The still
unidentified armed men who abducted three foreigners and a Filipina from a posh
resort on Samal Island
have exited Davao
Duterte,
who is also the Regional Peace and Order Council chairman, also revealed that
the armed men have links with the terror group Abu Sayyaf.
The mayor admitted that authorities have lost track of the armed men and their hostages two days after the incident because pursuing government forces were made to believe that they were at some place in Davao when they were already heading to the south.
“They were lost for two days — we cannot track them anymore. On 24th of September, we have a report from the intel community — saying they were in Glan (Sarangani) — but now we were told by the intel community saying they are already in Sulu – we have latest info. We verified from all sources and all information we gathered they are in Sulu,” Duterte said during his Sunday’s television program Gikan sa Masa Para sa Masa.
The main
base of the Abu Sayyaf is in Jolo, Sulu province.
“The Coast Guard tried everything,” Duterte said, adding he requested the Philippine Coast Guard and other pursuing forces to be cautious in order not to jeopardize the lives of the hostages.
He also dismissed speculations the abduction has something to do with mining, stressing if it is related to mining, the hostages could have been brought near or in a mining area.
“Mining is far out theory. Maybe the personalities were just chanced upon or maybe they were pre-determined targets. With that we have to find out,” Duterte said.
One of the hostages, Canadian John Ridsdel, was former senior vice president for Canadian Mining Firm Toronto Ventures Inc. (TVI) Resource Development Philippines Inc. while the other Canadian, Robert Hall, was formerly connected with a mining firm which has links with TMI, a mining company operating in Davao Oriental. The two other hostages were Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad, manager of the resort and the Filipina, a certain Maritess Flor, Hall’s partner.
While he is not being tapped to oversee the operations because it is not part of his jurisdiction since Samal is part of Davao del Norte province, Duterte said he wanted to keep communications open with authorities for reasons that the owners of the resort are his good friends.
With armed men and the hostages already in Sulu, Duterte hopes that the group holding the hostages will not drag the issue.
He, also said there is no demand for ransom so far.
Police and military authorities, for their part, however, were mum on the reports that the victims have been taken by their captors in Sulu province, a known stronghold of the terrorist Abu Sayyaf group.
Chief Supt. Federico Dulay of the Police Regional Office-11 (PRO-11) said the safety of the victims is the primary concern of government security forces now conducting operations.
He added the Philippine National Police (PNP) is receiving many reports regarding the kidnapping.
“We are receiving many reports and gathering
additional information for the validation of said reports. Hopefully, we can
gather enough (pieces of) evidence to support the filing of cases,” said Dulay.
“We ask for your understanding considering the sensitivity of this matter. We have to take into account the safety of the victims,” he added.
Reports that the four victims have been taken to Sulu cropped up after an outrigger was found in the shores of Barangay Silangkan, Parang, Sulu, last Saturday.
Even the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), which established naval barrier to prevent the kidnap group from entering Sulu, said it has no confirmation as to the whereabouts of the victims and their captors.
The four victims were abducted at gun point by more or less 12 gunmen inside Ocean View Resort on
Lt. Gen. Aurelio Baladad, commander of Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) who has jurisdiction over Davao Region, said they are still conducting search operations.
“We are continuing the search based on the leads that were given to us,” he stressed.
Col. Restituto Padilla, AFP spokesman, said as far as the military is concerned reports that the victims were taken to Sulu remained “unconfirmed.”
“That is unconfirmed…being continuously validated,” he added.
For his part, Col. Noel Detoyato, AFP-Public Affairs Office chief, said “there are operations ongoing, focused military operation…of course, we will not operate if we have no information.”
But Detoyato stressed the PNP is taking the lead in the operation.
The transfer of the victims to Sulu bolstered beliefs that the kidnappers were members of the Abu Sayyaf, especially that one of the watercraft that was allegedly used by the suspects was also found in Parang, one of the areas in Sulu where the terrorists have a strong presence.
Relatedly, Sen. Vicente Sotto III yesterday challenged the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to prove its stronghold in
Sotto issued the call to the MILF, although no group has claimed responsibility for the abduction, saying this is a good opportunity for them to show their control and mastery of the
The senator added this will also be a chance for the MILF, which is pushing the enactment of a law that will allow them to establish a new Bangsamoro political entity, to prove its sincerity in forging peace and work hand in hand with the government by lending a hand in rescuing the kidnap victims.
“This is an opportunity for the MILF to show that they too can protect the people against lawless groups in
The senator made the call amid his eight-day programmed interpellations on the proposed Basic Law on the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in the Senate.
http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/duterte-samal-kidnap-victims-now-in-sulu-pnp-afp-report-unconfirmed
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