No confirmed location yet of Sayyaf, foreign captives

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines  - - Police and military intelligence units that have been tracking for several weeks now the Abu Sayyaf group that abducted foreigner have yet to find the bandits and their captives.

Capt. Ma. Rowena Muyuela, spokesperson of Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom),  saidtheir military intelligence unit have been conducting intelligence tracking operation parallel to the efforts of the provincial police office of Sulu.

Muyuela said the verification operation came following unofficial information that German nationals Stefan Viktor Okonek, 71, and her female companion, Herike Diesen, 55, who went missing from their yacht off Palawan  and were reportedly seized and brought by the Abu Sayyaf to the Sulu province.

“So far the result of the intelligence tracking operation yielded no confirmation yet. The military operation is just to back up the police authority which is taking the primary responsibility over the kidnapping case,” Muyuela said.

2Lt. Orchelyn Bobis, acting public affairs chief of 2nd Marine Brigade, said the absence of the positive information prompted them to consider the information as hearsay. However, she said troops continue to monitor and coordinate with the police authorities.

Reports also confirmed that the Abu Sayyaf group is also holding captive Chinese national Gao Hua Yuan and Malaysian-Chinese Yang Zai Lin, who were separately abducted  from Sabah in April.

Gao, 29, a Shanghai native, was abducted along with Filipina resort worker Marcelita Dayawan, 40, on April 1 from a resort off Semporna while Yang, 34, and a companion identified as Konar Resowan, were taken on May 6.

Prof. Octavio Dinampo, a peace advocate member and professor of Mindanao State University (MSU) of Sulu, said the military and police have been moving forces to track down the possible locations of the victims.

Dinampo said his “informants” and information from the ground disclosed that the two Germans have been brought to Sulu in  April and taken to the area in Patikul where senior Abu Sayyaf leader Radulan Sahiron is holding camp.

He said there were unconfirmed reports that the two German nationals have been merged with the two other European captives Elwold Horn of Holland and Swiss Lorenzo Vinceguerre, both abducted in February 2012 from Tawi-Tawi and brought to Sulu.

He said it was also confirmed that Gao and Yang were held in two separate places by the Abu Sayyaf. - Roel Pareño