Kidnappers free grandson of ex-Zambo del Norte town mayor

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – The kidnapped 19-year-old grandson of a former Zamboanga del Norte town mayor was freed Tuesday night after three months in captivity in Basilan province, a military official said. Donald Capili, who was kidnapped last August 27 in Zamboanga del Norte’s Liloy town, was released near the village of Baiwas in Sumisip town, according to Lt. Col. Gamal Hayudini, regional chief of the military’s Civil Relations Group in Western Mindanao. Hayudini said Capili was fetched by an emissary of Basilan vice governor Al-Rasheed Sakalahul and brought to the politician’s farmhouse where he would be handed over to his family. “Donald is in good physical condition," the military official said. Hayudini did not give details of the release or who was behind the kidnapping, but authorities had previously linked the notorious Abu Sayyaf terrorist group to the incident. Capili is a grandson of former Liloy town mayor Belchu Uy. The Abu Sayyaf is still holding two Chinese citizens, Zi Shun Lu and Bo Shung Tan, in Basilan. A third hostage, Filipino plywood factory worker Mark Singson, was beheaded last month in Basilan after his family and employer, Hitech Wood Craft Corporation in Maluso town, failed to pay the P1.5 million ransom demanded by the bandit group. Some 20 gunmen disguised as soldiers raided the factory on November 10 and seized the trio. The Abu Sayyaf and the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are both actively operating in Basilan and had been previously linked by the police and military to many kidnappings-for-ransom in the province. - Al Jacinto/KBK, GMANews.TV