The three people kidnapped on Monday, two of them U.S. citizens, by the bandit group Abu Sayyaf were brought to Basilan province, according to initial reports of the committee aiming for the safe release of the victims.
Military reports said Gerfa Yeatts Lunsmann, son Kevin Eric, and Filipino relative Romnick Jackaria were kidnapped by 14 armed men in their residence in Sacol Island off Zamboanga City around 3 p.m. Monday. The kidnappers used two pump boats as getaway vehicles.
Zamboanga City mayor and head of the Crisis Management Committee (CMC) Celso Lobregat said in an interview Wednesday that he already coordinated with Basilan Vice Governor Al-Rasheed Sakalahul regarding the matter.
“We are coordinating to verify if they (victims) are there but as of now, we cannot yet confirm,” he said.
Lobregat said CMC’s second meeting held Tuesday decided to conduct a fact finding investigation on the incident. A number of people present near the site of kidnapping were already interviewed.
“It was also decided that the investigation will be handled by the lead agency, the DIPO (Directorate for Integrated Police Operations). They are gathering all information and intelligence gathering,” he said.
Lobregat said the identity of the kidnappers is yet to be established, although Col. Buenaventura Pascual, commander of the military’s Task Force Zamboanga, had earlier blamed the group of Waning Abdulsalam, the head of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front’s Special Operations Group in Zamboanga Sibugay.
“The primordial interest now is the safety and lives of the victims so any information that might jeopardize their safety and lives, we cannot disclose as of the moment,” said Lobregat.
The military has likewise stopped entertaining questions regarding the kidnapping incident, saying only the CMC can officially speak about it.
The military has likewise stopped entertaining questions saying that CMC only has the right to speak officially regarding the kidnapping incident.
“We already have a Crisis Management Committee and the head is the mayor. We are not authorized to speak,” said Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang, spokesman of the Western Mindanao Command, in a separate interview Wednesday.