Businesswoman in Mapun abducted

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines  - Gunmen suspected to be Abu Sayyaf members abducted a businesswoman late Friday afternoon in Mapun Island, Tawi-Tawi, according to  a police official.

Senior Superintendent Joselito Salido, Tawi-Tawi provincial police director, identified the abducted victim as Sugar Diane Esperanza Buenviaje, 33, owner of Cagayan Enterprises general merchandise store in Mapun.

Mapun, formerly known as Cagayan de Tawi-Tawi or Cagayan de Sulu, is a fourth class partially urban municipality with more than 24,000 population off the province of Tawi-Tawi from the southwestern extreme of the Philippines and located close to Sabah.

Salido said investigation disclosed that three unidentified gunmen, armed with .45 caliber pistols and an UZI sub-machinegun pistol, seized Buenviaje from her business establishment at the vicinity of Barangay Lyubud about 5:45 p.m. Friday.

He said the suspects dragged their captive into a getaway ‘jungkung’ motorized pumpboat and escaped toward an unknown direction.

Jungkung is a Malaysian-styled pumpboat with shallow hull that can cut through shallow waters over reef banks and mangrove.

Police and military forces have been alerted in the nearby provinces of Tawi-Tawi, Sulu, Basilan and even in Palawan where the suspects could have brought their captive.

“We are conducting hot pursuit and we have already coordinated the Task Force Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, and Palawan to monitor the possible presence of the suspects and their captive female businesswoman,” Salido said.

According to Salido, the suspects have yet to contact  the family of the victim.