Kidnap victim killed

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Suspected Muslim separatists have killed an ethnic Chinese woman whom they seized last Nov. 28 after her family failed to meet a ransom payment, an official said.

Antonio Gamalinda, chief of staff of Rep. George Hofer (third district, Zamboanga del Sur), said in a radio interview that he was told that Marilyn Tiu, the kidnapped wife of businessman Richard Tiu, was killed the other day because her family would not pay the P200,000 downpayment for her unspecified ransom.

Gamalinda said he learned of Tiu’s death from her uncle but would not say how the family confirmed the death.

The local unit of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force that has been deployed against the rash of kidnappings in the South said it had not confirmed Tiu’s death.

She was seized by suspected members of the Muslim separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Barangay Dawa-Dawa, Alicia, Zamboanga del Sur last Nov. 28.

Six of the 10 men who kidnapped Tiu were killed as the band was fleeing with their victim.

It was believed that Tiu was taken to Basilan after she was seized. — Roel Pareño