2 fishers rescued in Basilan

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Police commandos rescued two fishermen before dawn yesterday after being captive for more than three months by a kidnapping gang with links to the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan, authorities said.

Lamitan Mayor Roderick Furigay said kidnap victims Ronnie Nabie, 25, and Reynante Saquen, 30, were rescued by elements of the 9th Regional Mobile Group and Marine Battalion Landing Team 7 in Sitio Bohe Bessey, Barangay Semut, Akbar town.

“It took some time for us to find them,” said Chief Superintendent Felizardo Serapia, chief of the Directorate for Integrated Police Operations in Western Mindanao.

Police said a brief firefight ensued, forcing the kidnappers to flee and leave their captives behind.

The two fishermen were immediately brought to Lamitan City for their trip to this city, after which they would be escorted back to their respective families in Pagadian and Tukuran towns.

Armed men seized them off Basilan’s Sibago Island where they had gone fishing last April 4.

With the rescue, six more are still in captivity – three teachers from Zamboanga Sibugay, and three fishermen from the village of Mampang here.

The three teachers – Noemi Mandi, Jocelyn Enriquez, and Jocelyn Inion, all of the Bangkaw-Bangkaw Elementary School in Naga town – were snatched last March 13 while on their way home aboard a motorized banca. – With Cecille Suerte Felipe and Keira Stephenson