Zamboanga del Sur gov offers P1M bounty for info on abduction of Briton, wife

PAGADIAN CITY, Zamboanga Del Sur — Zamboanga del Sur Governor Victor Yu has offered a P1 million bounty to anyone who could provide information on the identity and location of the abductors and their victims who were snatched in Tukuran town Friday evening.

In a statement, Yu said the reward seeks to hasten the rescue of the kidnap victims.

Yu asked the public to report any information about the incident to the provincial information office through mobile phone number 09098947989.

British national Allan Arthur Hyrons, 70, and his Filipino wife Wilma Paglinawan Hyrons were forcibly taken by four armed men Friday, at around 7 p.m. at their beach resort in Barangay Alindahaw.

They were then boarded on two waiting motorized outriggers.

Citing the account of witnesses, police said one boat fled towards the open seas of Yllana Bay, and another towards Sultan Naga Dimappro in Lanao del Norte.

It was not yet known where the victims were brought.

Captain Nursaibar Mahadi, Tukuran police chief, said that as of Saturday afternoon, there was no communication from the abductors to any of Wilma Hyrons’ relatives or to the employees of the resort.

The couple just arrived at the resort aboard a vehicle when a man approached Allan, hit him in the nape with pistol and dragged him to shore, said Rosalie Decierdo, a worker at the resort.

Decierdo added that three other men appeared and also dragged Wilma along with Allan.

Seeing the commotion, one male customer of the resort tried to pacify the four men but backed off after one man pointed a gun at him.

Decierdo said the men carried short firearms.

Decierdo also disclosed that two of the kidnappers stayed at a cottage of the resort since Thursday, paying for an overnight stay. But the resort has no record of their identities.

The other two arrived and joined the group on Friday afternoon, Decierdo added.

Apart from owning the beach resort, the couple, who has lived in the town for 15 years, also owns Hyron’s College in Barangay Santo Niño.

Tukuran Mayor Macario Tingson disclosed that he has long warned the Hyron couple to be cautious as Allan, being a foreigner and businessman, could be a target for abduction.

However, the couple just took it lightly, with Wilma saying they would rather die as they don’t have money to give the kidnappers, Tingson recalled.

He added that last July, he asked the local police to assign cops at the beach resort during Saturdays and Sundays.

On Saturday, Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) chief Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana ordered a manhunt of the kidnappers.

Sobejana said that military units under the Westmincom have standing instructions to find and secure the Hyrons.

The Sultan Naga Dimaporo (SND) police have heightened their monitoring of coastal barangays after receiving an initial report that one of the two getaway boats headed towards the town which is adjacent to Tukuran.

Major Javier Tanog, SND police chief, said they are in constant coordination with the Philippine Coast Guard and the Army in the area in looking for suspicious groups and activities. With Julie S. Alipala and Divina Suson /je