However, there was no clear indication that two more people, who were snatched from Semporna, Malaysia, at dawn Tuesday were now inside Philippine territory.
Citing his “grassroots sources on the ground,” Prof. Octavio Dinampo of the Mindanao State University in Sulu said 72-year-old Dr. Stefan Viktor Okonek and Henrite Dielen, 42, were brought to Sulu in the last week of April.
“The two Germans are now with Radulan Sahiron,” he said.
Dinampo, who said locals who had grown tired of the Abu Sayyaf had relayed the information to him, said the two Germans were brought to Patikul by Ambrin Absara and Muammar Askali, using a speedboat owned by another suspected Abu Sayyaf leader identified as Idang Susukan.
“My informants told me they are now in Barangay Kabuntakas and are being kept there with the two European birdwatchers,” he said, referring to Dutchman Ewold Horn and Swiss national Lorenzo Vinciguerra.
The two birdwatchers were kidnapped in Panglima Sugala in Tawi-Tawi on February 1 last year.
Dinampo’s story was corroborated by a police source.
The police source said “Okonek and Dielen have been transferred to Sulu by the Abu Sayyaf Group.”
He said Chief Supt. Noel delos Reyes, the police chief in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, could possibly provide additional details, but the Inquirer failed to contact Delos Reyes as he did not answer text messages and would not answer his phone either.
Lt. Gen. Rustico Guerrero, chief of the military’s Western Mindanao Command here, said there was no confirmation the two Germans had indeed been kidnapped and taken to Sulu.
The authorities gave the same line after MV Catherine, the yacht the Germans used, was found in waters off Bataraza, Palawan, on April 26.
Aside from the Germans, Dinampo said, Chinese national Gao Hua Yuan, 29, and Marcy “Mimi” Dayawan, a Filipino, were also brought to Sulu following their kidnapping at Singamata Reef Resort in Malaysia on April 2.
“The Chinese and Pinay are now in Bud Taran, Talipao, and they were taken by one of the original hostage takers during the Sipadan incident, Angad Adji,” Dinampo said.
He said his information should not be doubted but acted upon for the freedom of the victims.
“As a former kidnap victim, I vowed to seek justice for myself and others by going the extra mile if needed,” Dinampo said.
As this developed, police sources said they had no information yet if 35-year-old Yang Dai Lyn and Kenur Resowan, 54, had been transported to the Philippines following their abduction in the Semporna district of Sabah.
(With a report from Liza Jocson, Inquirer Mindanao)