5 bus passengers seized in Surigao City

JABONGA, Agusan del Norte — A soldier’s wife has sought the help of authorities in rescuing five fellow bus passengers who, she said, were abducted by men in fatigue uniforms in Surigao City last Aug. 22.

Josephine Valenzuela, 29, told Task Force Racer of the Caraga police that the kidnappers are holding the five victims — three engineers and two women — in a remote village here.

Valenzuela said she escaped through the help of a woman companion of one of the abductors who took pity on her because she was pregnant.

Caraga police director Alberto Rama Olario immediately dispatched elements of Task Force Racer to track down the kidnappers and rescue the five victims.

Olario said the kidnappers have sent feelers to authorities demanding ransom for their captives. He did not disclose the amount demanded but sources said it was P5 million.

But Olario said not a "single cent" would be given to the kidnappers in line with the government’s no-ransom policy.

Joint police and military operatives have pinpointed the mountain boundary of this town and Malimo, Surigao del Norte as the area where the kidnappers are keeping their captives.

Valenzuela said three of the five captives were Manila-based engineers working on a construction project in Davao City.