ZAMBOANGA CITY—Armed men believed to be Abu Sayyaf terrorists based in Sulu province on Tuesday freed a woman mayor from Zamboanga Sibugay province after holding her in captivity for over six months, a military officer said.
Mayor Gemma Adana was turned over to Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan II, who informed the Joint Task Group Sulu that she “was brought to his residence by concerned local officials and religious elders” in Barangay Bud-Taran in Indanan, Sulu, around 6:50 a.m., said Navy Commander Roy Vincent Trinidad, chief of staff of the Naval Forces in Western Mindanao.
Brig. Gen. Allan Arrojado, commander of the Joint Task Group Sulu, said Adana was turned over to the military and brought to the hospital in Jolo for medical checkup. She was to be transported to this city so she could be reunited with her family, he said.
The kidnappers were said to have demanded P100 million for the release of the mayor, but no ransom was paid, Arrojado said.
“Her captors were exhausted due to the intense military and police pressure. The group believed that by releasing any of the kidnap victims will ease military pressure against them,” he said.
Adana was forcibly taken from her house in Barangay Taytay Manubo in Naga by the armed men who barged in around 9:15 p.m. on April 6.
Mayor Jesus Lim of the nearby town of Salug in Zamboanga del Norte was the first to confirm the abduction. He said the intruders fled on small wooden boats.
A few days later, Col. Rolando Bautista, head of the Army’s 104th Infantry Brigade based in Basilan province, said Adana was brought to Basilan and then to Sulu. It was also Bautista who claimed that the kidnappers wanted P100 million in exchange for the mayor’s freedom.
The Abu Sayyaf is a ragtag band of self-styled Islamists engaged in kidnapping and other activities with links to some Southeast Asian terror networks. The group was also suspected of being behind the recent abduction of Italian missionary Rolando del Torchio from Dipolog City and several other persons.
In the past, the terrorists beheaded victims for failing to cash in on them, including Dapitan City village Chair Rodolfo Boligao, who was killed in August. Julie Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao