2 kidnapped MSU students released — Army general

MARAWI CITY — After holding their victims for a week, abductors freed the two students they kidnapped on December 7 inside the Mindanao State University campus, a military official said on Tuesday. Brigadier Gen. Rey Ardo, commander of the Army's 103rd Brigade, said the victims were released around 5 a.m. on Tuesday, saying the two were held in the hinterlands of Piagapo, Lanao del Sur province. Ardo said the safe release of the students was a result of a series of military and police search and rescue operations as well as constant negotiations initiated by Marawi City Mayor Fahad Salic, chairman of the Crisis Management Committee (CMC). But a military officer who requested anonymity said the students were released after a prominent person in the area paid the abductors P250,000 in "board and lodging" fees — a euphemism for ransom. The officer did not disclose the name of the "prominent person." The information, however, could not be independently confirmed. Shiela Mae Vidal, 18 years old, a second year student of College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, and a resident of Butuan City; and Alcher Balicuatro, 19 years old, 1st year student of College of Agriculture, and a resident of Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte were abducted by four unidentified armed men around 8 a.m. of December 7. Earlier reports said the two were on their way to their boarding house along 5th Street, Mindanao Satate University (MSU) campus in Marawi City, from morning worship when they were seized. Upon the victims' release, Ardo said he picked up the students somewhere in Marawi City and brought the two to the office of MSU president Macapado Muslim, before they were reunited with their families. — LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV