PNP chief in Zamboanga to oversee rescue of 2 kidnapped ‘balikbayans’

MANILA, Philippines—Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Director General Raul Bacalzo flew to Zamboanga on Wednesday to set up a joint peace and security program with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and personally oversee recovery operations for two “balikbayans” (visiting Filipinos) who were snatched by unidentified armed men on Tuesday.

The two victims, both from the United States, were abducted around 3 p.m. on Tuesday on Tictabon Island, a barangay (village) located at the east coast of Zamboanga City.

They were identified as Gerfayeatths Lunsmann, 50, and her son Kevin Lunsmann, 14. They arrived on Tictabon Island, from Virginia, USA, 13 days ago.

“We have been doing this program. We started it in Cotabato to address the cases of terror and kidnappings in the area. There have been no cases of kidnapping in Cotabato ever since,” Bacalzo told reporters in a press briefing before hopping aboard a military plane.

Bacalzo added that they will establish a similar task-force in Marawi, Lanao del Norte, Basilan, Sulu, Western Mindanao, and in the Zamboanga peninsula.

Bacalzo said he is speeding up the establishment of the task force because of the recent abduction in of the two balikbayans.

Bacalzo said he was coordinating with different government units for the recovery of the victims. “I talked with the US Embassy, with General Eduardo Oban Jr. (AFP Chief of Staff), and with (Zamboanga) Mayor Celso Lobregat. We are all working together to get the victims back,” Bacalzo said.

Bacalzo said he had submitted an initial report to President Benigno Aquino III on the progress of the recovery operations.

He added that Director Felicisimo Khu Jr., head of the Philippine National Police Directorate for Integrated Police Operations Western Mindanao, and Director Leocadio Santiago Jr., Directorate for Operations, were in Zamboanga to personally conduct the said operations.

Bacalzo stressed that their primary concern was the safety of the victims. “We are doing our best to rescue the victims without exposing them to danger.”

Bacalzo said the police had not yet received any demands from the kidnappers.

Mrs. Lunsmann was born in Tictabon but was adopted by an American couple when she was nine years old. She returned for a visit to her biological family.

Initial police reports indicated that investigators were looking into one of the relatives of the victims, Romnick Jackaria from Basilan, as a suspect. He disappeared around the time the Lunsmanns were abducted.

Police details were still sketchy as of press time, but witnesses reportedly informed local authorities that the victims were taken toward the direction of Basilan province.