Abducted DAR architect released in Iligan City
JOHANNA CAMILLE L. SISANTE, GMANews.TV
11/26/2009 | 04:52 PM
A government architect who was abducted last month in the southern Philippine province of Lanao del Sur has been freed by his captors, a regional military commander said on Thursday.
Maj. Gen. Ben Dolorfino, chief of the Armed Forces’ Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom), said Pablo Mercado III of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) was released 10:30 p.m. Wednesday in Barangay Camague in Iligan City.
DAR Secretary Nasser Pangandaman and the crisis management committee headed by Lanao del Sur Governor Mamintal Adiong Jr. negotiated for the release of Mercado, according to Dolorfino.
Mercado, 45, was abducted last October 23 along the Marawi-Iligan Highway at Sitio Bliss in Barangay Bubong, Saguiarana town. He was on board a vehicle with eight other passengers but he was the only one abducted.
Dolorfino did not identify the group behind the kidnapping.
The Lanao provinces are known bailiwicks of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The government has tagged some members of the group to several abduction cases in the past, including that of Irish priest Michael Sinnott.
Sinnott, 79, was freed last Nov. 11 after almost a month of captivity.
Dolorfino said Mercado has been brought to the headquarters of the 103rd Brigade at Kampo Ranao in Marawi City for debriefing.
The officials said military pressure also forced the captors to release Mercado. - KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV
Maj. Gen. Ben Dolorfino, chief of the Armed Forces’ Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom), said Pablo Mercado III of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) was released 10:30 p.m. Wednesday in Barangay Camague in Iligan City.
DAR Secretary Nasser Pangandaman and the crisis management committee headed by Lanao del Sur Governor Mamintal Adiong Jr. negotiated for the release of Mercado, according to Dolorfino.
Mercado, 45, was abducted last October 23 along the Marawi-Iligan Highway at Sitio Bliss in Barangay Bubong, Saguiarana town. He was on board a vehicle with eight other passengers but he was the only one abducted.
Dolorfino did not identify the group behind the kidnapping.
The Lanao provinces are known bailiwicks of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). The government has tagged some members of the group to several abduction cases in the past, including that of Irish priest Michael Sinnott.
Sinnott, 79, was freed last Nov. 11 after almost a month of captivity.
Dolorfino said Mercado has been brought to the headquarters of the 103rd Brigade at Kampo Ranao in Marawi City for debriefing.
The officials said military pressure also forced the captors to release Mercado. - KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV
