Mayor nixes demand of kidnappers in Cotabato

MANILA, Philippines - The armed abductors of the Chinese businessman and his 10-year-old daughter in Cotabato City in Mindanao demanded the government to stop the military pursuit against them to give way to negotiations. Cotabato City Mayor Muslimin Sema said that was the "initial" demand of the kidnappers of Wilson Tan, 50, a resident of Don E. Sero Street in Rosario Heights in Cotabato City. But Sema insisted they would not heed the suspects’ request and instead continue mobilizing policemen and soldiers who make up Task Force Tugis to scour the nearby towns. The mayor said he had already ordered the dispatch of helicopters to hover over possible hideouts of the suspects, especially the marshlands in Kabuntalan town in neighboring Maguindanao province. Sema also confirmed that rebel group Moro Islamic Liberation Front had begun helping in the pursuit operations. Military officials claimed that the armed men who abducted the father and daughter belonged to the Pentagon kidnap-for-ransom group, which was also responsible for an attempted kidnapping of a doctor in the region last year. Initial investigation showed that men forced the victims into a gray Mazda van with plate number MVR 879 at 4:45 p.m. Wednesday and fled to Sitio Camasi in Poblacion 9, also in Cotabato City, where they burned and left the vehicle. The men then transferred the victims to a waiting pumpboat that sped toward Barangay Pagalamatan in Kabuntalan, Maguindanao, after engaging the pursuing lawmen in a brief shootout. - GMANews.TV