MANILA, Philippines - Four gunmen kidnapped a hardware owner and her 10-year-old grandson at their home in Pagadian City Saturday evening, a senior military official reported yesterday.
Maj. Gen. Romeo Lustestica, commanding general of the 1st Infantry “Tabak” Division said the two kidnap victims were a grandmother, 55; and her grandson.
Initial reports showed that the suspects barged inside the victims’ residence at about 10:45 p.m., and at gunpoint hogtied members of the household with ropes and packing tapes.
The kidnappers then forced the two victims into their family-owned van, which they initially used as a getaway vehicle toward Labangan, Zambaonga del Sur.
Local police recovered the victims’ vehicle Sunday in the vicinity of Barangay Sugod, Tukuran town where the kidnappers reportedly changed vehicle, Lustestica said.
Quoting witnesses in the area, Lustestica said the second vehicle that picked the abductors and their victims was seen heading towards Sultan Naga Dimaporo in Lanao del Norte.
As of yesterday nobody has claimed responsibility of the abduction, nor the victim’s husband Daniel, an engineer, has received any word or ransom demand from the kidnappers. The victim owned and operate a hardware firm in Pagadian City.
“The Pagadian City Crisis Management Committee was activated yesterday to oversee the early resolution of this kidnapping case,” Lustestica said.
Sinister plots
In related developments, the military yesterday clarified that there are no sinister plots behind the pullout of Marine troops in Basilan amid rumors that the Army would soon assume the leadership of almost all area commands.
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta Jr. said all major services were consulted on the troop movements.
“This positioning (of troops) is being discussed at the Board of Senior Officers and Board of Generals level. The BOG level is made up not only of Army generals,” the AFP spokesman said.
“There is no intention for the Army to dominate unified commands.”
Mabanta said the Marines were pulled out of Basilan so they could be transferred to areas with huge concentration of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) troops.
“These are instructions coming from headquarters and the intention is for the Marines to be deployed in areas where there are a big number of MILF forces. These are part of the strategic realignment of this leadership,” he said.
Navy spokesman Capt. Giovanni Bacordo said the stakeholders in Cotabato are the ones who requested the Marines in their area.
“The Marines were requested by the bishop of Cotabato and the Muslim council. If you’ll notice, there was an increase of kidnapping and bombing in Cotabato. The residents of Cotabato requested for Marine presence,” Bacordo said.
“They said that during the time when the Marines were there, the extent of kidnappings and bombings were greatly reduced,” he added.
The troop movement came amid rumors that the Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom), which conducts military operations in Basilan, will soon be under an Army general. The command is being led by Marine Lt. Gen. Ben Dolorfino, who will retire on Nov. 10. – With Roel Pareño - By Jaime Laude and Alexis Romero
