Kidnappers free NCotabato gas station owner, secretary

From the Philippine Star (Oct 11): Kidnappers free NCotabato gas station owner, secretary

Kidnappers have set free in a secluded area in Maguindanao’s Datu Piang town a 70-year-old gasoline station owner and her secretary gunmen snatched in Libungan, North Cotabato more than a week ago, a local official said Thursday. Libungan town Mayor Manuel Dela Cerna said that businesswoman Alma Datuwato Cuan and her secretary, 19-year-old Cristabelle Joloran, were released through the intercession of the joint ceasefire committee of the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the police. Dela Cerna said the kidnappers were forced to release the victims because of the preassure exerted by the military and the MILF. “We ought to thank all the sectors that helped secure the release of the victims,” Dela Cerna said. The two victims were snatched from Cuan's Petron gasoline station in Libungan town on Tuesday last week. The gunmen, believed to be members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Movement, brought the victims to the marshy border of North Cotabato and Maguindanao.  Dela Cerna said local officials in Datu Piang also helped in securing the release of the victims.

http://www.philstar.com/nation/article.aspx?publicationSubCategoryId=200&articleId=858346