Security beefed up in Cotabato after foiled kidnapping of female doc

MANILA, Philippines – The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) have deployed security personnel to guard hospitals and clinics in North Cotabato following the foiled abduction of a female physician in Cotabato City by suspected Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels Friday night.

AFP chief Gen. Alexander Yano said the failed abduction of Dr. Milagros Yap only indicated that sustained military and police operations have inflicted heavy casualties on MILF rebels.

Apparently in dire need for doctors to treat their casualties, the rebels simply snatched Yap while she was at the compound of the Cotabato Regional Medical Center at about 10 p.m., without them knowing that she is an obstetrics and gynecology specialist.

“We now are guarding clinics and hospitals for the safety of doctors and medical practitioners because we feel that due to casualties incurred by the other side (MILF), they are also in need of doctors to treat their wounded,” Yano said.

Yap was about to ride her car after her hospital duty when the kidnappers, armed with .45 caliber pistols, forced her into a Mitsubishi Pajero and spirited her away.

Hospital watchmen, who saw Yap’s abduction, traded shots with the kidnappers, but failed to stop them from escaping with their captive.

The speeding getaway vehicle of the kidnappers collided with a passenger multi-cab jeepney at the corner of Ceasar extension and Anacleto Badoy streets in Poblacion 3.

The accident stalled them until responding policemen arrived at the scene.

In an ensuing gunbattle, one of the MILF rebel abductors was killed while two of his colleagues were able to elude arrest, said Chief Superintendent Felizardo Serapio, Central Mindanao police director.

The kidnappers left Yap as they fled in haste.

Police investigators are still trying to determine the identity of the slain kidnapper, whose cadaver they deposited meantime at a local mortuary.

Unverified reports claim that around 100 MILF rebels have been killed while scores are wounded in the ongoing military and police operations in Maguindanao and North Cotabato. – With John Unson