Armed men release six hostages in Zamboanga Sibugay

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines—Armed men stormed a village in Tungawan, Zamboanga Sibugay on Tuesday morning, seized six persons,  including a five-year-old girl, but released them more than 12 hours later,  the police said Wednesday.

Chief Superintendent Felisicimo Khu, head of the Directorate for Integrated Police Operations in Western Mindanao, said three armed men led by Munib Aukasa, described as the 10th most wanted person in the province with outstanding arrest warrants for murder and robbery, arrived in the village of Tigbanuang around 10:30 a.m.

Khu said the group immediately seized the victims and threatened to harm them if the government mounted a rescue attempt.

An hour after taking the hostages, Aukasa released one of them, a woman, to relay his demand to the authorities.

“She was ordered to proceed to the Tungawan police station to relay the message that they should set free Aukasa’s wife, who was earlier arrested for possession of firearm,” Khu said.

He said Tungawan Mayor Randy Climaco immediately convened the local crisis management council and dispatched Councilors Lorverle Caracol and Hamin Jimlani to negotiate with Aukasa.

“Before midnight on Tuesday, all the remaining hostages were released to the negotiators,” he said.

Khu said he was not sure what the negotiators had offered to the armed men in return for the release of the captives.

Police said Aukasa’s wife had been brought in by the police for questioning about a firearms case but was subsequenbtly released, but it was not immediately clear if the woman’s release was due to the demand of her husband.