Sayyaf frees hostage in Basilan after 4 months

(Updated) The Abu Sayyaf on Tuesday released its nineteen-year-old hostage after more than four months of holding him captive in Basilan, said Philippine National Police spokesman Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina. Donald John Capili, who was kidnapped by the bandit group on August 27, 2009, was released at 6:30 p.m. on January 5 in Barangay Baywas, Sumisilip, Basilan. Espina credits the release of Capili to joint efforts of the Crisis Management Committee (CMC), the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the various local government units of the province, and the police. Capili was turned over to CMC Chairman Vice Governor Al-Rasheed Sakkalahul at 8:30 PM of the same day, Espina said, adding that initial debriefing by the PNP and AFP was still ongoing. Capili was kidnapped in Zamboanga del Norte’s Liloy town and was brought to Basilan by boat. He is the grandson of former Liloy town mayor Belchu Uy. An earlier report quoted Lt. Col. Gamal Hayudini, regional chief of the military’s Civil Relations Group in Western Mindanao, as saying that Capili was fetched by an emissary of the vice governor and brought to a 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. The report did not mention if ransom was paid for Capili’s release. - Nikka Corsino/LBG, GMANews.TV