Samal kidnapping: Military getting good leads

ABDUCTION ON SAMAL ISLAND Armed men abducted Canadians John Ridsdel and Robert Hall (inset photos), Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad, and a Filipino woman identified only as Tess on the Island Garden City of Samal, just off Davao City. Photo taken on Sept. 19 shows the Norwegian shipbuilder and caretaker of Oceanview Marina posing beside his newly finished catamaran twin-hull yacht at Barangay Camudmud on Samal Island. INSET PHOTOS COURTESY OF AFP EASTERN MINDANAO COMMAND

THE military is getting “good leads” in locating the Filipina and three foreigners who were recently snatched by armed men on Samal Island.

“We have good leads but that’s the problem in operations. I cannot compromise. But we have a good lead right now ,” Lt. Gen. Aurelio Baladad, chief of the Eastern Mindanao Command said on Thursday.

He declined to say the location for security reasons, but said it is still within his area of responsibility.

On Monday night, an armed group stormed the Holiday Oceanview Resort on Samal Island, one of the popular luxury resorts there.

They took three foreign hostages— two Canadians and a Norwegian, and a Filipina.

The military and police have launched massive search for the captives immediately after the abduction.

Baladad said the primary suspect of the kidnapping is still the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf but they are also looking at other groups.

“It’s not necessarily Abu Sayyaf. But we know it is a group from Sulu….The primary suspect is the Abu Sayyaf but I would not conclude that it is ASG,” he said.

The Abu Sayyaf is blamed for the kidnappings and bombings in Western Mindanao. It is currently holding nine hostages —four foreign and five local in Sulu.

Baladad said they believe that the abductors are from Sulu although it has yet to be confirmed if it is the Abu Sayyaf.