Freed Filipina kidnap victim probed

DAVAO CITY—The Filipino resort worker, who was kidnapped in Sabah and freed from captivity by the Abu Sayyaf, has been investigated for possible collusion with her captors, who had also seized and freed a Chinese national on May 30.

Speaking over a Sabah radio station on Thursday, Malaysian police Insp. Gen.   Khalid Abu Bakar confirmed that Malaysian and Philippine authorities looked into the possible link between Marcy Dayawan, 40, of Midsayap town, North Cotabato province, and the Abu Sayyaf.

Dayawan worked on the resort Singmata Reef and Adventures off Semporna District in Sabah, where Abu Sayyaf gunmen took her and Chinese national Gua Hua Yan, 29, on April 2.

The translator

Dayawan last week told the  Inquirer she acted as a translator between the Abu Sayyaf and Gua’s family during ransom negotiations. She said the kidnappers initially demanded P500 million but settled for P300 million.

She said she  strongly believed the  ransom was paid. “They threatened to behead us if the  ransom was not paid,” Dayawan had said.

Both Dayawan and Gua were sent back to Sabah after being held captive in the jungles of Sulu province for nearly two months.

Khalid said  Malaysian police had completed their  part in

the investigation to ascertain whether Dayawan was just another kidnap victim or had conspired with the Abu Sayyaf.

But he was quick to add that he could not make public the result of the Malaysian police investigation.

“She is now in the Philippines after being allowed to go home, but we are still closely working with authorities there for further action on the abductors,” Khalid said.

Loose security

In an earlier story by Bernama, Malaysia’s national news agency, Defense Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said the kidnappings in the east coast of Sabah had proven that security measures taken after followers of the Sulu sultan raided Sabah in March 2013 were not enough.

“Maybe the intrusion incident, which took place in Lahad Datu last year, will not happen again but these latest incidents of kidnapping show we must really work hard and not view such matters lightly,” he said.

Malaysian Armed Forces Chief Zulkifeli Mohammad Zin said he agreed with Hishammuddin on the need to further boost security in the eastern part of Sabah, which shares border with the Philippines.

In Zamboanga City, top military officials said the recapture of Abu Sayyaf leader Khair Mundos in Parañaque City is a big blow to the crime group.

Lt. Gen. Rustico Guerrero, chief of the Western Mindanao Command, told the  Inquirer that Mundos was “the one orchestrating” terror activities in some parts of Mindanao.

“We have been looking for and hunting him for more than eight years and we  were able to finally  get him,” Guerrero said.

Senior Supt. Angelito Casimiro, city police chief, said Mundos was the financial officer of the Abu Sayyaf, and that his arrest would have a “direct effect in terms of logistical and financial support.” Reports from Allan Nawal and Julie S. Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao