A Filipino-Chinese hardware trader kidnapped last week was released by her abductors in Maguindanao on Friday morning, a military official said. Conchita Tan, owner of LCT Hardware in Cotabato City, was freed by her still unidentified abductors at past 9 a.m. Friday at a marshy area in Maguindanao, Col. Ernesto Aradanas of the Philippine Army’s 603rd Brigade said. Upon her release, the kidnap victim was immediately flown to Manila for medical treatment, he added.
Tan was snatched by armed men while traveling through Cotabato City. Her family driver and bodyguard were both killed during the incident. Aradanas likewise said that it is “logical" to believe that Tan’s family paid a “considerable" sum of money for the businesswoman’s freedom. “It is just logical to conclude na nagkaroon ng bayaran, at ang (that ransom was paid, and that the) dealings are directly between the family and the kidnappers," he said. Tan’s family, however, has not confirmed paying ransom to the abductors as of posting time.—Malu Cadelina Manar/ACC/J
