COTABATO CITY—The military dismissed talk of ransom being paid for the release by kidnappers of British national Allan Arthur Hyrons and his Filipino wife on Monday, Nov. 25, more than a month after they were held captive by a homegrown terror group in Sulu.
Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, head of the Army’s Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom), said Hyrons and his wife, Wilma, were rescued after a 10-minute gunfight between soldiers and members of the Islamic State-linked Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in the town of Parang, Sulu province.
“There was no ransom given to the abductors. We are strictly following a no-ransom policy,” Sobejana told the Inquirer.
He said the rescue of the couple was the result of sustained operations against ASG, barely two days after elite members of the Army killed six ASG members.
Sobejana said the captives were in good health but had to be seen by a doctor.
The rescue of Hyrons and his wife was a “convergence of efforts among our forces on the ground,” said Sobejana.
He described the successful operations as a “major impact” on terror groups in Sulu. “This will cause a huge setback for our enemies,” he said.
“This is a big blow to their morale,” Sobejana added.
The couple were seized on Oct. 4 by six gunmen at a seaside resort in the town of Tukuran.
Weeks before the rescue, the military said ASG was demanding ransom for the couple.
Days before, soldiers killed six ASG members in a series of clashes. The first was on Nov. 23 in Patikul town where soldiers killed an ASG member known only as Jailed. Five soldiers were wounded in that clash.
The second clash, according to Col. Ignatius Patrimonio, left five ASG members dead and two soldiers wounded last Sunday also in Patikul.
Patrimonio, head of the 1102nd Infantry Brigade, said among the bodies retrieved was that of Sibih Pisih, an ASG member wanted for the massacre of 22 civilians in Talipao town, Sulu in 2014.