Kidnappers demand P70M for former mayor

BUTUAN CITY—Still unidentified suspects who kidnapped a former mayor of a Surigao del Sur town are demanding P70 million in ransom for their captive.

Vicente Pimentel, mayor of Carrascal town, said in a phone interview that the kidnappers of Victor Tan, former mayor of the town, had contacted the victim’s family and local officials to relay the ransom demand.

“The family had said they could not afford to pay the huge amount,” said Pimentel. He did not say, however, how the kidnappers contacted the victim’s family and local officials.

Tan, 67, was snatched while supervising the construction of a bridge by a firm that he manages in Lanuza town around

9 a.m. on Monday.

Supt. Martin Gamba, spokesperson of the Caraga police, said at least eight gunmen seized Tan and took him to a remote, mountainous part of Lanuza.

It was the second time Tan had been kidnapped.

While serving as Carrascal mayor in 1997, he was snatched by New People’s Army (NPA) rebels as he visited his company’s construction site in Lianga, also in Surigao del Sur.

The rebels released Tan after holding him in captivity for several months.

Pimentel said the group that snatched Tan on Monday had pretended to be New People’s Army (NPA) rebels “but they were not.”

“The abductors are not NPA, but members of a group pretending to be NPA and earn their livelihood through kidnap for ransom,” said the mayor.

Pimentel said authorities have determined the identities of the suspects and the place where they are keeping Tan.

He said the local government was closely coordinating with police and the military to plan a rescue mission for Tan and the capture of the suspects.

But Pimentel said the safety of Tan was a main concern and plans for his rescue were being crafted carefully.

He said the local government is sticking to a policy of no ransom, no negotiations with kidnappers.

Several other kidnapping cases remain unsolved. The bandit group Abu Sayyaf, which has ties to the international terror network al-Qaida, has been held responsible for many of the kidnapping cases.

Though the US government is pouring in resources and manpower into the campaign to eradicate terror groups in the Philippines, the Abu Sayyaf remains alive and active in parts of Basilan and Sulu.

The military had accused the guerrilla group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) of providing shelter to some members of the bandit group, a charge that the MILF repeatedly denied. Ramil Bangues and Frinston Lim, Inquirer Mindanao