Armed group releases abducted village chieftain, family

From the Philippine News Agency (Jun 25): Armed group releases abducted village chieftain, family

Successful negotiations coupled with pressures from military hot pursuit operations and blocking forces by the police had compelled an armed group to release an abducted village chieftain, his wife and two children a few hours after they were forcefully taken from their home Monday morning , police reports said Wednesday.

Reports from Agusan del Sur reaching the regional headquarters here Wednesday said that tribal chieftain Datu Adelfo Mancugnahan Santos together with his wife and two children were forcefully taken by about 40 heavily armed men believed to be led by a certain Maximo Catarata alias “Boyet Tindogan” of the Guerilla Force-34 of the Southern Mindanao Revolutionary Committee.

The family was taken from their home at the hinterlands of Sitio Pinile, Barangay Valentina, La Paz town in Agusan del Sur, some 18 kilometers from the town proper around 9:00 a.m. on Monday.

The police report added that La Paz police immediately coordinated with Mayor Ambrosio Lim of La Paz town for the activation of the Municipal Crisis Management Committee. Mario Santos Urdanilla, chairperson of Barangay Valentina, was tasked to negotiate with the abductors.

The report stated that about noon on the same day, the victims were all released by their abductors at the height of the hot pursuit operations by the members of the 26th Infantry Battalion, policemen from the Agusan del Sur Provincial Public Safety Company, while the La Paz and Talacogon Municipal Police Stations conducted checkpoints in their areas.

The family safely returned to their home in Barangay Valentina and rest for a few days before the debriefing because of trauma as advised by relatives.

http://www.pna.gov.ph/index.php?idn=2&sid=&nid=2&rid=656756