Mining firm exec abducted in Tawi-Tawi brought to Sulu

From ABS-CBN (May 5): Mining firm exec abducted in Tawi-Tawi brought to Sulu

The mining firm officer who was abducted in Barangay Simandagit in Bongao municipality, Tawi-Tawi province is now in Sulu, according to a high-ranking official of Naval Forces Western Mindanao.

The commander of Joint Task Force ZamBaSulTa (Zamboanga-Basilan-Sulu-Tawi-Tawi), Rear Admiral Reynaldo Yoma, said the victim, Nonong Garcia, has been brought to a remote barangay in Indanan municipality, a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf Group.

Yoma said their intelligence officers have been working with their assets on the ground to gather more information on the whereabouts of Garcia.

Yoma believes the group of Apo Mike, a sub-leader of the Abu Sayyaf operating in Sulu, was behind the abduction.

The provincial director of Tawi-Tawi police, Sr. Supt. Joselito Salido, said Garcia was on board a motorcycle heading towards an inn in Barangay Simandagit when he was waylaid by the armed suspects.

The driver of the motorcycle was mauled by the abductors and was not able to seek help from residents living nearby.

Garcia was forced to board a motorized pump boat, which immediately left the area.

According to Yoma, the abducted mayor of Naga municipality in Zamboanga Sibugay, Gemma Adana, was also brought to the same area in Indanan, Sulu.

Adana was snatched in her residence in Naga last April 6.

The family of the mayor said they have not received any call from the abductors about their demand.
They are now worried over the health condition of the abducted official, who has been suffering from diabetes for the past years. She has been taking a regular dose of medicines for her health maintenance.

Yoma said the Abu Sayyaf Group is now operating in the so-called soft-targets in Zamboanga Peninsula, referring to areas where security is not intensified and strict.

Dapitan City in the province of Zamboanga del Norte is one of those areas pre-identified by the military, where kidnap-for-ransom syndicates may probably be targeting.

Yoma said they informed their counterparts in Zamboanga del Norte on the possible plans of the Abu Sayyaf, days before the abduction of the two personnel of the Philippine Coast Guard and a barangay chairman in Aliguay. Still, the bandits were able to penetrate the area.

Yoma said the two Coast Guard personnel and the barangay chairman were secondary targets of the terrorist group. He said the prime targets of the group are tourists and foreign nationals visiting the area.

In the coming months, the military will intensify its monitoring and visibility in Indanan municipality in a bid to rescue the abducted victims in Zamboanga peninsula.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/regions/05/06/15/mining-firm-exec-abducted-tawi-tawi-brought-sulu