Saturday, October 11, 2008 Police chief favors rescue operations for aid workers
CHIEF Superintendent Bensali Jabarani, police chief of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm), said he is in favor of conducting rescue operations for two kidnapped aid workers in Basilan province.
Esperancita Hupida, program director of Nagdilaab Foundation Inc. (NFI), and Millet Mendoza, a Manila-based freelance community development specialist, are now on their 26th day of captivity after gunmen believed to be Abu Sayyaf bandits seized them.
However, Jabarani said he will leave it to the families of the hostages and the organization they belong to decide whether to opt for a rescue operation.
He said they have intensified intelligence operation to determine the whereabouts of the kidnappers and their hostages.
Hupida and Mendoza were seized by 10 gunmen in the afternoon of September 15 in the village of Cabangalan, Unkaya Pukan town.
The captives were returning to Isabela City, the capital of Basilan province, coming from Tipo-Tipo where they are implementing humanitarian project when they were seized.
Basilan Vice Governor Alrashid Sakalahul, head of the Crisis Management Committee formed to seek the safe release of the hostages, said Thursday that the kidnappers demanded P5 million ransom in exchange for the release of one of the two captives.
According to Sakalahul, the P5 million-ransom is for the release of Hupida, and the kidnappers have yet to announce their demand for Mendoza. (Bong Garcia)CHIEF Superintendent Bensali Jabarani, police chief of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm), said he is in favor of conducting rescue operations for two kidnapped aid workers in Basilan province.
Esperancita Hupida, program director of Nagdilaab Foundation Inc. (NFI), and Millet Mendoza, a Manila-based freelance community development specialist, are now on their 26th day of captivity after gunmen believed to be Abu Sayyaf bandits seized them.
However, Jabarani said he will leave it to the families of the hostages and the organization they belong to decide whether to opt for a rescue operation.
He said they have intensified intelligence operation to determine the whereabouts of the kidnappers and their hostages.
Hupida and Mendoza were seized by 10 gunmen in the afternoon of September 15 in the village of Cabangalan, Unkaya Pukan town.
The captives were returning to Isabela City, the capital of Basilan province, coming from Tipo-Tipo where they are implementing humanitarian project when they were seized.
Basilan Vice Governor Alrashid Sakalahul, head of the Crisis Management Committee formed to seek the safe release of the hostages, said Thursday that the kidnappers demanded P5 million ransom in exchange for the release of one of the two captives.
According to Sakalahul, the P5 million-ransom is for the release of Hupida, and the kidnappers have yet to announce their demand for Mendoza. (Bong Garcia)
