PAGADIAN CITY – Four masked gunmen seized a 64-year old man after stopping him and his family in a village in the outskirts of Sirawai town in the southern Philippine province of Zamboanga del Norte, police said Thursday.
Police said the men, armed with rifles and handguns and all clad in camouflage uniform, abducted Rex Susulan Triplet, but his wife and son managed to run away and sought help from authorities. The abduction occurred at dusk Wednesday while the family was returning home on a motorcycle.
No individual or group claimed responsibility for the abduction, but the town is a known lair of Moro rebels. Police said it is investigating the incident, adding, Triplet, a resident of Piacan village, is jobless.
The abduction came after Zamboanga City Mayor Beng Climaco said mayors in Zamboanga Peninsula are also targets of kidnappings. Climaco, who chairs the Regional Peace and Order Council or RPOC, said the police revealed threats on kidnapping, as well as the names of mayors who are now targets of bad elements, during a virtual meeting that also discussed terror and bombing threats in Zamboanga Peninsula and other issues.
The meeting were attended by Zamboanga del Sur Governor Victor Yu, Zamboanga del Norte Governor Roberto Uy, Sibugay Governor Wilter Palma, Isabela City Mayor Djalia Hataman, Ipil Mayor Anamel Oligario, Liloy Mayor Roberto Uy Jr., and representatives from member government agencies to include the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, Police Regional Office 9, Western Mindanao Command, the 1st Infantry Division, among others.
Just early this month, soldiers killed 5 Abu Sayyaf terrorists in military operations in the towns of Alicia and R.T. Lim. The fighting erupted in the village of President Roxas in R.T. Lim where security forces caught up with a group of gunmen escaping a military operation from the nearby town of Alicia. Citing intelligence reports, Brig. Gen. Leonel Nicolas, commander of the 102nd Infantry Brigade, said the Basilan-based Abu Sayyaf gunmen were on a kidnapping mission.
Climaco said security is tight in Zamboanga since the twin suicide bombings in Sulu's capital town of Jolo late last month. She said roadblocks and checkpoints around the city are being guarded by soldiers and policemen and patrols continue even at night.
The Ulama Council also reaffirmed its support to the local government of Zamboanga and the security sector following a meeting with Col. John Divinagracia, commander of the Task Force Zamboanga; and Col. Rexmel Reyes, acting Zamboanga police chief; and the Technical Working Group-Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism and Terrorism led by Climaco and represented by Jojo Abdusalam.
Abdusalam said the conference was the first of a series of meetings for the crafting of an action plan intended to empower the community in the fight against terrorism and other forms of lawlessness. (Zamboanga Post)
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