4 kidnapped persons freed in Compostela Valley—police

TAGUM CITY, Philippines — Four people abducted by suspected communist rebels in Monkayo, Compostela Valley last week have been freed, the police said Tuesday.

Senior Superintendent Camilo Cascolan, Compostela Valley police chief, corrected earlier reports that two persons were released hours after the abduction in Naboc village on Friday. He said five people, including lumber trader Lino Armada, had remained with their suspected New People’s Army captors until Monday.

Early on Monday, Superintendent Cydric Earl Tamayo, Monkayo police chief, said Armada’s wife Frescielita and another person were freed by their captors two hours after their 1 p.m. kidnapping.

Cascolan told the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a text message that Joel Lingaya, 30, married; Raymund Gumpan, 21; Benindo Taculayan, 43, and Joel Arata, 21, were released around 7:30 p.m. Monday in a remote highland area between Monkayo and Compostela municipalities.

“They were blindfolded and brought to a mountainous area there before being allowed to find their way home,” Cascolan said, adding the victims had to travel for three hours before reaching a community and making their way to freedom.

Cascolan said the lumber trader still remains in the hands of the kidnappers, believed to be NPA rebels.

Frescielita told police the suspects had demanded the couple pay the so-called “revolutionary tax” as the Armadas are into logging business.

Authorities said an investigation into the incident was being conducted even as the trader’s family was negotiating for his release.