Gunmen kidnap fishing boat crew in south Philippines

The Journal of Turkish Weekly (Feb 15): Gunmen kidnap fishing boat crew in south Philippines

Unidentified gunmen have abducted a fishing boat operator and two crewmembers in the Philippines’ troubled south, according to police Monday.

Chief Inspector Rogelio Alabata, Police Regional Office 9 spokesperson, said in a statement that the vessel had been commandeered while fishing in the seas between the Zamboanga peninsula and the island province of Basilan -- a known stronghold of an al-Qaeda-linked militant group.

The regional police office based in Zamboanga, a predominantly Christian city from where the boat departed Sunday, said the wife of the skipper, Ronnie Lantikse Bancale, reported having received a phone call from her husband.


Marilou Mangudlay, 39, told the police station in Pitogo town, in nearby Zamboanga del Sur province, that her husband said the kidnappers had initially demanded P50,000 ($1,055) in exchange for their safe passage before deciding on a P1,000,000 ransom.

Police suspect the gunmen belong to a small group, and are trying to verify whether they have links to the Abu Sayyaf or organized kidnap-for-ransom gangs in the country’s south.


Kidnap-for-ransom gangs frequently operate in the Zamboanga Peninsula and the island provinces of Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi.

They use isolated sea-lanes and coastal areas to grab their victims, who are then held captive in isolated villages in the peninsula.

The kidnappers are known to hand over their captives to the Abu Sayyaf and negotiate for a ransom that, if paid, is shared with the group.

The Abu Sayyaf is still holding several captives, including two Canadians, a Norwegian and a Filipina kidnapped from a resort in September for whose release it has demanded a ransom of more than $60 million.

Since 1991, the Abu Sayyaf -- armed with mostly improvised explosive devices, mortars and automatic rifles -- has carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortions in a self-determined fight for an independent Islamic province in the Philippines.

It is notorious for beheading victims after ransoms have failed to be paid for their release.

http://www.turkishweekly.net/2016/02/15/news/gunmen-kidnap-fishing-boat-crew-in-south-philippines/