2 Zambo school execs snatched

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - – At least eight armed men snatched two ranking public school officials in Kumalarang town in Zamboanga del Sur on Monday night, authorities said.

But police said Tessie Luna managed to escape from the kidnappers while she and her husband Rudy were being dragged to a pumpboat in a coastal community in Kumalarang.

Husband and wife are both supervisors of the Kumalarang Central Elementary School, said Chief Inspector Ariel Huesca, spokesman of the Region 9 police.

Investigation showed that at least eight men barged into the couple’s residence in Barangay Diplo in Kumalarang at around 8 p.m. Monday and seized them. The kidnappers used the couple’s Toyota Fortuner as getaway vehicle.

Huesca said the kidnappers fled with the victims toward Sitio Dacun, Barangay Picanan where a pumpboat was waiting for them.

“The wife of Luna managed to escape while the two victims were being forced into the pumpboat,” Huesca said.

Responding policemen, however, failed to catch up with the kidnappers.

Huesca said local police units have launched an operation to track down the kidnappers and possibly rescue the remaining captive.