A Philippine Navy personnel stands in front of an AgustaWestland AW109 helicopter before it takes off during the bilateral maritime exercise between the Philippine Navy and US Navy dubbed as Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT), aboard the Philippine Navy vessel BRP Ramon Alcaraz in the South China Sea. AP/Noel Celis, file
Timely information and enhanced capability led to a quick response and the early rescue of a kidnap victim taken by the Abu Sayyaf group near Basilan, the Western Mindanao Command said.
Maj. Gen. Carlito Galvez Jr., Westmincom chief, said the rescue of tugboat captain Aurelio Agac-ac at in the jungle of Mohammad Ajul town, Basilan at dawn Saturday showed the command's improved capabilities.
Galvez said the navy was able to deploy its speedboats and two new Agusta-Westland 109 helicopters minutes after receiving the distress call from a tugboat hijacked off Sibagu Island.
Galvez said the helicopters allowed the military to track down Abu Sayyaf militants who escaped on speedboats.
The helicopters also engaged and hit two Abu Sayyaf gunmen. One died and the other was critically wounded, Galvez said.
The immediate response by forces on the ground also gave Agac-ac a chance to escape from his exhausted captors, he said.
“The early recovery of the victim showed we have increased the capability in terms of the interdiction. Through this, we saw it will be a great deterrence against the bad elements who attempt to stage similar abduction incidents,” Galvez said.
He said that it was the second time that the immediate response by security forces either stopped an attack or led to the rescue of a captive.
The command also foiled a kidnapping attempt in Tawi-Tawi when government forces acted on timely information, he said.
The Westmincom chief said their full concentration in Sulu and Tawi-Tawi has prevented the Abu Sayyaf group from staging cross-border kidnapping.
He said the command has ample capabilities but cannot guard all areas given the vast sea lane . He added the recent hijacking incident near Sibagu Island in Basilan was unexpected.
Galvez said the government is placing a permanent security presence in Sibagu Island by deploying the Marines and naval assets following the latest hijacking incident.
He described the vicinity near Sibagu Island as critical as it is being used as a regular sea lane by various ships.
Chief Superintendent Billy Beltran, director for Police Regional Office 9 (PRO), said they are adopting a security template with the Police Regional Office of Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (PRO-ARMM) citing a contiguous jurisdiction with the Westmincom.
“We were able to muster our forces in the coastal area just to ensure we are prepared once the abductors escape towards our area,” Beltran said.
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