Kidnapped public school teacher freed in Jolo

From the Philippine News Agency (Dec 24): Kidnapped public school teacher freed in Jolo

A public school head teacher abducted five weeks ago had her greatest gift this Christmas – being reunited with her family – after her captors freed her Monday morning in Sulu, authorities said. Flordeliza Ongchua was left by her captors in Barangay Sto Nino, Jolo, Sulu at about 5 a.m., according to Radio Station DXMM. DXMM, an affiliate of DXMS Radyo Bida here, said Ongchua was found by police authorities wandering in the town’s public market at about 9 a.m. She told police that she was left by her captors nearby and decided to walk toward the police station since she does not know the place.

Ongchua, head teacher of Labuan Elementary School, was seized by gunmen on Nov. 13 inside her home in the coastal Barangay Labuan. According to retired Police Director Felizardo Serapio Jr, executive director of Philippine Center on Transnational Crime (PCTC), Ongchua is now safe and with her family. Serapio would not say whether a ransom was paid or not but insisted police maintained the government’s no ransom policy. Serapio also said Ongchua was rescued by special task force in Jolo. Regional Army spokesperson Major Franco Alano based in Zamboanga City confirmed Ongchua is now with her family. Family members refused to talk to media, asking privacy.

Alano said the kidnappers believed to be members of the extremist Abu Sayyaf Group were looking for Labuan village chair Ronald Maravilla. But Miravilla was not home when the abductors arrived. They moved to the next house and found Ongchua who was forced into a waiting motorboat and sped away. Police and military authorities said the family negotiated for her release. Following Ongchua’s kidnapping, then PNP Director Gen. Nicanor Bartolome relieved the entire police force of Labuan, led by Chief Insp. Roberto Marcos.

According to Serapio, Ongchua was rescued by combined forces from the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission (PAOCC), Philippine Center on Transnational Crime (PCTC), Naval Intelligence Security Group-Western Mindanao, and the Philippine National Police's Anti-Kidnapping Group and Special Action Force-Seaborne. Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr. chairs both the PAOCC and PCTC with Serapio as its executive director.

Serapio, quoting report from police in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said the Ongchua’s abductors were headed by a certain Abdul Susukan of the Moro National Liberation Front. Following Ongchua’s release, the anti-kidnapping task forces have intensified its manhunt against the suspects and implement measures to prevent similar incident in the future.

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