Nursing grad seized, grandpa slain

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – A female nursing graduate was seized while her grandfather was killed by armed men who barged into their home in the coastal village of Manicahan east of this city Tuesday night, police said.

Senior Superintendent Edwin de Ocampo, acting city police chief, said Marycris Sogradiel Cuartocruz, 21, was kidnapped at gunpoint while her grandfather, Jesus Sogradiel, 72, was shot dead.

In a related development, the Abu Sayyaf released the other day a school principal it snatched a month ago after her family paid a “board and lodging fee,” the military said.

The al-Qaeda-linked militants turned over Celia Sosas to local officials in Basilan late Tuesday after her family paid the kidnappers P200,000, military spokesman Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang said.

“It was payment for board and lodging,” Cabangbang said, using the local euphemism for ransom.

Police said 10 armed men swooped down on the residence of Cuartocruz and four of them seized her at around 7:30 p.m.

Chief Inspector Ricardo Garcia, commander of Police Station 3 in Barangay Sanggali, said the nursing graduate’s grandfather tried to prevent the kidnapping but was instead shot.

City Mayor Celso Lobregat, who convened an emergency meeting following the kidnapping, said they already have the identities of possible suspects.

“There are initial leads but we cannot reveal these at the moment because this might preempt an ongoing operation,” Lobregat told reporters.

Lobregat said they have activated Task Force Marycris to work on the victim’s recovery.

Police believe that the armed men could be robbers as they were looking for a bag containing money of Mrs. Elena Cuartocruz, a rice trader.

De Ocampo said Mrs. Cuartocruz was hit on the mouth as the armed men destroyed a cabinet and a locker in search of the money before her daughter was eventually dragged away.

He said the kidnappers could not be Abu Sayyaf members.

De Ocampo said police and military forces have been mobilized to track down the victim’s and possibly rescue her.

The Naval Forces Western Mindanao has deployed its multi-purpose assault craft, backed by the 4th Special Forces’ assault craft, to search the mangroves near Sacol Island, said Col. Buenaventura Pascual, commander of Task Force Zamboanga.

Cuartocruz was the fifth kidnap victim in this city since last February.