Kidnapped Indonesians rescued in Tawi-Tawi

HEALTH CHECK Indonesian national Mohammad Khairuldin Bin Yai Kii, 15, kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf in January 2020, undergoes a medical checkup at Camp Don Basilio Navarro Hospital inside the Western Mindanao Command compound in Zamboanga City on Sunday, hours following his rescue in Kalupag Island, Languyan, Tawi-Tawi. —JULIE ALIPALA

ZAMBOANGA CITY—The last of the five Indonesian nationals captured by the bandit Abu Sayyaf Group in January last year has been rescued by soldiers in the vicinity of Kalupag Island, Languyan, Tawi-Tawi province, on Sunday, the military said.

Lt. Gen. Corleto Vinluan Jr., chief of the Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom), said the 15-year-old missing captive was among the five Indonesian nationals who worked for a Malaysian fishing firm but ended up being abducted by the Abu Sayyaf Group off Tambisan, Malaysia, on Jan. 17 last year.

Initially missingOne of the five was killed by their abductors while trying to escape during an encounter between the bandit group and government forces in Patikul, Sulu province, on Sept. 29 last year.

The rescue of the boy came three days after soldiers rescued three of the captive Indonesians off Pasigan Island, South Ubian, Tawi-Tawi, on Thursday night, the Westmincom said.

The boy, Mohammad Khairuldin Bin Yai Kii, a nephew of one of the three rescued Indonesians, was initially declared missing when the wooden hull boat, locally known as jungkong, boarded by the kidnap victims and some Abu Sayyaf members capsized during the March 18 rescue operation.

Aside from rescued Indonesian nationals Riswanto Bin Hayono, Arical Kastamiran and Arsyad Bin Dahalan, soldiers also fished out from the water and held an Abu Sayyaf member, identified as a certain Sahud Salisim, also known as “Ben Wagas.”

Debriefing“We are happy to inform everyone that we rescued the boy, Khairuldin Bin Yai Kii,” Vinluan announced on Sunday.

Vinluan said the rescued Indonesian boy was first brought to the headquarters of the 2nd Marine Brigade in Tawi-Tawi’s capital town of Bongao for a health check and debriefing before he was flown onboard a military aircraft to Zamboanga City.

The Westmincom chief personally went to Tawi-Tawi to fetch Khairuldin on Sunday and bring him to the Westmincom headquarters in this city for another medical assessment at Camp Don Basilio Navarro Hospital and to reunite him with the three other survivors.

The rescued foreign nationals will be brought to Metro Manila on Monday and will be turned over to Indonesian Embassy officials.

—JULIE ALIPALA