Basilan councilor’s daughter freed

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Suspected Abu Sayyaf members freed without ransom the nine-year-old daughter of a councilor of Lamitan, Basilan Saturday after holding her for three days in the mountains, authorities said.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), through the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group, fetched Donna May Ramos, daughter of Lamitan councilor Donnel Ramos, in Barangay Limbo Candis, Tipo-Tipo town and later turned her over to the military, said Brig. Gen. Reymundo Ferrer, commander of the Army’s 103rd Infantry Brigade.

"She is now in safe hands," said Lamitan Mayor Roderick Furigay upon learning about her release. The girl has been reunited with her family.

Furigay lauded the efforts of the members of the local crisis committee led by former Tuburan mayor Hadjaron Jamiri and the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group.

Both Furigay and the victim’s family denied reports that money changed hands in the girl’s release.

Military sources, however, said a "token" amount could have been given to the kidnappers for the girl’s "board and lodging."

The girl was riding her bike outside her house last Wednesday when two armed men suspected to be Abu Sayyaf members snatched her. They later handed her over to the head of an MILF "lost command."

Furigay worked hard to seek the girl’s release soonest so as not to affect the confidence of the business community and local government leaders in Lamitan’s hosting of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Business Congress next month.

"Definitely, I am confident of their trust with our decisive action in addressing the problem through the total participation of all stakeholders here," he said.