7-year-old girl abducted in N. Cotabato — police

(Updated 4:53 p.m.) A seven-year-old child was kidnapped by two unidentified suspects in North Cotabato province in southern Philippines on Monday afternoon, a police report said. The child was kidnapped around 12:50 p.m. on Ferenal Street in Barangay Poblacion, Pikit town, the report said. The suspects were reportedly on board a motorcycle. The report said the girl had just arrived from school when the suspects snatched her and sped towards Barangay Gli-gli in Pikit town. The village is near the Liguasan marsh, which, according to authorities, is a known sanctuary of kidnap-for-ransom groups operating in Central Mindanao. Senior Superintendent Cornelio Salinas, chief of the Cotabato provincial police office, immediately ordered his men to block possible exits in Pikit and nearby towns in the province. The Pikit municipal government has already created a Crisis Management Committee led by Pikit municipal mayor Sumulong Sultan. One of the primary tasks of the committee, according to Salinas, is to identify whether the case is a simple abduction that stemmed from a personal grudge or a case of kidnap-for-ransom. “Once proven a ransom is being demanded, the committee will inform a particular group to head the negotiation for the victim’s release as pursuit operations against the suspects are underway," said Salinas. Lt. Col. Benjamin Hao, spokesman for the 6th Infantry Division based in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao, said the Army has already coordinated with the police to support its pursuit operations against the suspects. — Malu Cadelina Manar/KBK, GMA News