2 Koreans freed in Lanao del Norte

ILIGAN CITY—Armed men freed the two remaining South Koreans they kidnapped in Lanao del Norte on Oct. 21 hours after releasing the first South Korean victim.

The fate of three other captives, all Filipinos, was uncertain, however.

Col. Aldred Limoso, of the 2nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade, said the two South Koreans—Wu Seok-bung and Kim Nam-du—were freed in Barangay Kalimudan in Salvador, Lanao del Norte, around

5:30 p.m. yesterday.

Limoso said the release of the South Koreans came following negotiations led by former Salvador Mayor Sultan Jhonny Tawan-tawan. It was not certain if ransom was paid.

One of the kidnappers, whom police identified as an alias Pogi, earlier demanded P50 million in ransom.

“The lives and condition of the Filipinos are still uncertain,” Limoso said.

Brig. Gen. Rolando Amarelli, chief of a task force formed to handle the kidnapping case, identified two of the captive Filipinos as Nestor Mondejar of Surigao del Sur and a still unidentified engineer from Parang, Maguindanao.

A third Filipino victim, Junie Ongie of El Salvador, Misamis Oriental, was reported to have been executed by the kidnappers although Amarelli said the report was still being independently verified.

On Friday, Choi In Soo was found by authorities after the kidnappers abandoned him, also in Barangay Kalimudan in Salvador, Lanao del Norte.

Choi’s release was attributed by Chief Supt. Felicisimo Khu, commander of the Directorate for Integrated Police Operation in Western Mindanao, to the operation that the military and the police had launched in search of the Koreans.

Choi was frail when found because the kidnappers had not been feeding him and the other hostages, said Lyndon Calica, Lanao del Norte information officer.

The 53-year-old Choi underwent an operation on Friday due to stomach bleeding caused by ulcer.

“Choi suffered intense hunger since the abductors only gave them water. No solid food was given to them while in captivity,” Calica said.

Choi and his companions traveled to Lanao del Norte on Oct. 21 after a local contact reportedly told them about an area there that could be a good site for mining.

Days after they failed to return to their hotel in Cagayan de Oro City, authorities said they got information that the foreigners had been kidnapped.

Kidnappings continue with impunity in Mindanao.

In another case, Mayor Loreto Cabaya of Aleosan, North Cotabato, said he didn’t want military operations launched against the kidnappers of a relative of his, Romy Cabaya, who was mistaken for his son.

“Rather than push for a police-military action, it’s better to talk with them so he could be released,” Cabaya said.

He said military operations would be very disruptive for villagers living in peace in some areas.

He said, however, that there would be no ransom.

Romy, 23, was on his way home to the Cabaya house in Aleosan, where he ran errands, when seized by gunmen.

The mayor said there had been no contact with the kidnappers but his family sent an emissary to negotiate, Edris Gandalibo, who is deputy governor for Muslim affairs of North Cotabato. Richel Umel, Edwin Fernandez and Charlie Senase, Inquirer Mindanao