By Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
Philippine police have tagged an al-Qaeda-linked militant group as being behind the abduction of a village chief and two coast guards on a beach resort in the country’s Muslim south.
Police Inspector Dahlan Samuddin, regional police spokesman, said Tuesday that the Dapitan City Police Station had received a report before the kidnapping about the Sulu province-based Abu Sayyaf planning abductions in neighboring Dipolog city, Zamboanga del Norte province.
Samuddin had earlier told The Anadolu Agency that around 15 gunmen clad in military and police uniforms seized Roberto Buligao of Aliguay Island, off the coast of Dapitan, and two coast guards at the village hall early Monday.
The suspects had reportedly introduced themselves as police and military personnel and asked about the presence of some tourists before kidnapping Buligao and the unarmed officers.
The abduction was the first in Dapitan, home to two high-end resorts frequented by foreign and domestic tourists.
Samuddin said in his statement Tuesday, “based on the information I received, the group [Abu Sayyaf] is targeting foreigners specifically along coastal areas and barangays [villages]."
He explained that Dapitan police were monitoring coastal areas and the national police’s Critical Incident Management Task Group had been activated.
Last month, kidnap-for-ransom gunmen seized a town mayor in neighboring Zamboanga Sibugay province.
Gemma Adana of Naga town is believed to have been turned over from her original kidnappers to the Abu Sayyaf, with a P100 million ($22.4 million) ransom demanded in exchange for her safe release.
Adana was with her family, friends and visitors at her home in Taytay Manubo village when gunmen barged in April 6 and seized her, dragging her to a speedboat.
Kidnap-for-ransom gangs frequently operate in Zamboanga Peninsula and the provinces of Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi. The gangs are known to hand over their captives to the Abu Sayyaf and negotiate for a ransom that, if paid, is shared with the group.
The kidnappers use isolated sea-lanes and coastal areas to grab their victims, who are then held captive in isolated Muslim villages in the peninsula.
Since 1991, the Abu Sayyaf -- armed with mostly improvised explosive devices, mortars and automatic rifles -- has carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortion 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.
