4 of 6 kidnapped teeners in Lanao del Norte freed

ILIGAN CITY – Four of six teenagers who were kidnapped here on Saturday were released on Tuesday.

Freed were Juhari Gubat, Eloisa Lacson, Hanna Yurong and Kevin Limpin. Two others – Berzon Rey Paeste and Cedric Jamias – remain in the hands of their captors.

Nida Yurong, Hanna’s mother, said her daughter appeared “traumatized and nervous” when she arrived home at 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, or three days after they were reported missing.

The group were having a drinking session in the village of Tibanga when they decided to go to Lala town in Lanao del Norte to visit Limpin’s home. But on their way to Lala, the passenger van they were riding was flagged down by armed men in Linamon town. They were then transferred to another vehicle.

Yurong said her daughter narrated that they were blindfolded and their mouths were gagged with duct tape.

It was not clear why the kidnappers released four of the victims.

Chief Insp. Jovane Cabusas, acting commander of police station 5 here, said they were still talking to the released victims to know what happened.