By Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY
A midwife kidnapped in the Philippines’ Muslim south nearly a month ago has been freed unharmed by the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group.
Senior Superintendent Abraham Orbita, police commander in the troubled island province of Sulu, told the Anadolu Agency on Wednesday that Lailani Bernabe was freed at about 6 a.m. Tuesday morning by militant sub-leader Arod Wahing in Patikul town.
"She was found by village leaders and turned over to the police," said Orbita in a text message, without providing details on who had mediated in the midwife's release.
Bernabe, an employee of Luuk District Hospital, was abducted August 28 while on her way to the hospital, which is located in Barangay Tubig-Puti in Luuk town.
There was also no immediate information on whether Bernabe’s family had paid a ransom for her release, despite the Abu Sayyaf earlier demanding an unspecified large sum in exchange.
According to Orbita, an immediate medical check-up found the victim to be in good condition and she later reunited with her family.
He added that security forces have been pursuing militants in Sulu and Basilan – island provinces known as Abu Sayyaf strongholds.
The Abu Sayyaf militant group is still holding European birdwatchers Elwold Horn and Lorenzo Vinciguerra who were snatched in Tawi-Tawi in February 2012, and Germans Stefan Viktor Okonek, 71, and female companion Herike Diesen, 55, who were initially reported missing while sailing on their yacht near Rio Tubbataha off Puerto Princesa City in Palawan last April.
Aside from the kidnapped foreigners, the group is also holding a Filipino Chinese businesswoman and her daughter it seized in Isabela City, Basilan province sometime on May 2014.
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.
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