Engineer seized by Abu Sayyaf

ZAMBOANGA CITY—Military and police operatives said they were on the trail of an Abu Sayyaf faction in Basilan that abducted an engineer working on a road project.

Engineer Virgilio Fernandez of Mace Construction in Lamitan City was seized by gunmen on Friday. It was the second abduction here in less than a month.

On May 19, gunmen snatched 16-year old Nico Sebastian.

Chief Superintendent Bienvenido Latag, chief of police of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), said witnesses identified the leader of the gunmen who took Fernandez as Mosama Jamiri, who has been linked to the Abu Sayyaf terror group.

Reports said Jamiri’s group shot at the tires of the dump truck Fernandez was riding on, forced him down and took him away on a motorcyle. The incident happened at 3:30 p.m. in Sitio (sub-village) Libi, Barangay (village) Bulanting, in Basilan.

In the Sebastian case, police have filed kidnapping charges againt Arasad Jion, commander of another rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), and one Nadsmhir Abubakar.

The MILF, which is in peace negotiations with the government, denied it was involved and pointed to the Abu Sayyaf as the kidnappers of Sebastian. Julie Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao