Besides the Australian Warren Rodwell who appeared in a YouTube video as a kidnapping victim of the Abu Sayyaf, the terrorist group in Mindanao is holding four other foreigners “against their will,” the military confirmed Friday. “The AFP, in support of PNP’s law enforcement function, has made verifications,” reported Major Emmanuel Garcia, deputy chief, Public Affairs Office, in an interview with Erwin Tulfo in Radyo 5’s Punto Asintado. But, beyond confirming that four other foreigners were Sayyaf captives, Garcia said the military “can’t ascertain specific location.” Thus, he said, the AFP is “asking for help from civilians,” especially vital information on sightings of the terrorists and their captives. The four others, according to Punto Asintado, are the Japanese Mamaito Katayama, a Swiss national, a Dutchman and a Jordanian journalist. “We can confirm that these 4 are being held against their will,” said Garcia.
On Thursday, Agence France-Presse reported that Rodwell, from Sydney, was seized from his home in the town of Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay on December 5, 2011. Rodwell, a 54-year-old former soldier from Sydney, was seized by suspected Muslim extremists from his home in the southern Philippine town of Ipil on December 5, 2011. It was believed that he was taken by the Abu Sayyaf, which he confirms in the new video, according to the aire agency AFP.
Both the military and PNP have maintained a no- negotiation policy when it comes to payment of ransom, but this does not shut out the option to negotiate safe release of the captives, without such financial conditions. Authorities, added Garcia, are “still verifying the case of the Australian man who appeared in a YouTube video and was tagged a captive of the ASG. “We can neither confirm nor deny if man on video is the Australian Boswell,” he said, saying only, “we had earlier reports he was kidnapped and was being held somewhere in Basilan.”
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