ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - Police and military authorities are stepping up intelligence monitoring to trace the possible location of the remains of the Malaysian-Chinese captive who died while being held by the Abu Sayyaf in the jungle of Sulu province, according to officials.
Security officials said it is difficult to immediately locate the remains of Tung Wei Fei, 36, who was reported to have died by his cousin Tung Wei Jie after the latter managed to escape Tuesday from captivity in the mountains of Indanan town.
Jie and Fei, both executives of an oil plantation in Sabah, were abducted by gunmen suspected to be related to the Abu Sayyaf group last Nov. 13, 2012 in Lahad Datu.
The victims were brought to Sulu and held captive for almost nine months until Jie escaped and recovered by the patrolling police forces in Indanan town.
Jie told police that his cousin died from sickness but could not tell the exact location as he himself have no idea where they were held.
Jie is presently confined in a military hospital here and is scheduled to be flown to the Malaysian embassy in Manila anytime.
Col. Jose Joriel Cenabre, commander of the Task Force Sulu and 2nd Marine Brigade, said they will likely need an informant to help the ground forces on locate the victim's remains.
“The recovered victim who managed to escape has really no idea of the place where they were brought by their captors,†Cenabre added.
Senior Superintendent Abraham Orbita, acting Sulu provincial police director, said police forces on the ground have mobilized intelligence gathering to locate the remains.
“What we are (doing) right now is building the intelligence information filtered on the ground and once we positively locate the site, we might do the exhumation with proper coordination,†Orbita said. - Roel Pareño