Abducted boy rescued in Basilan; 2 suspects dead

(Updated) MANILA, Philippines - Security forces on Tuesday rescued a seven-year-old boy hours after two gunmen abducted him in the southern province of Basilan, a military official said. Brig. Gen. Rustico Guerrero, commander of the 1st Marine Brigade, said the two men were later killed by the operating troops. Guerrero identified the victim as Anderson Fortico, who was snatched by two motorcycle-riding men in front of his house in Jessica Hills in Isabela City at about 1 p.m. The kidnappers then brought Fortico, son of a Land Bank of the Philippines employee, to Lamitan City where they were cornered by responding Marines and policemen. Guerrero said the men shot the military detachments they passed along the way until they were cornered in Barangay Maloong. “They opened fire at our detachments. Luckily, (the) response of our troops was swift," he said. One of the men was hit in the encounter and died later in a hospital, while the second one managed to escape but was later cornered and killed when he resisted arrest. Guerrero said the victim was not hurt in the encounter. “The boy was safely recovered. The boy is safe, he was not wounded," he said. The victim was turned over to the custody of Lamitan City Mayor Roderick Furigay. Guerrero said they were not yet certain if the kidnappers, whose identities were unknown as of posting time, belonged to the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf, which is behind the spate of kidnappings in the province. Basilan is a known stomping ground of the Abu Sayyaf. "We don’t want to speculate (that) it’s Abu Sayyaf, but normally, it’s Abu Sayyaf (that is behind the kidnappings). We cannot really validate," he said. - GMANews.TV