P15-M ransom demanded for Zambo City boat master

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – The kidnappers of a boat master who was snatched off Basilan, contacted his family last Wednesday and demanded P15-million ransom for his release, according to a source.

Word about the ransom demand spread in Barangay Cawit west of this city after the family of kidnap victim Lucio Gonzales met to discuss it.

Gonzales, boat master of the GMA and AMR fishing companies based here, was seized last Tuesday by 15 armed men on board two pump boats who intercepted his fishing boat off Lantawan town in Basilan. He was believed to have been brought to Sulu.

According to the source, there is no word if the kidnappers had set a deadline for the ransom payment.

Police have yet to verify the ransom demand.

Meanwhile, Basilan authorities have activated the provincial crisis management committee and have coordinated with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) for the early and safe release of social worker Jennelyn Luna-Enpera who was seized by suspected Abu Sayyaf militants in a remote village in Ungkaya Pukan town.

Senior Superintendent Mario Dapillosa, Basilan police director, said Basilan Gov. Jum Akbar, in a security conference yesterday morning, mobilized the committee and all agencies concerned, including the police and military, to ensure the early release of Enpera.

Enpera, an employee of the Department of Social Welfare and Development assigned to look after the government’s conditional cash transfer program for families of MILF members, was snatched by four armed men on Wednesday morning while meeting with the beneficiaries in Barangay Ulitan, Ungkaya Pukan town.