Kidnapped school official in Zamboanga del Sur freed

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines  - Kidnappers freed unharmed a public school official they held for seven months following payment of half a million pesos ransom in Tukuran town, Zamboanga del Sur early this week.

Police Inspector Dahlan Samuddin, Police Regional Office 9 (PRO) information officer, said the victim Rudy Luna was freed shortly before midnight Tuesday at the fish port of Tukuran town.

He said the kidnappers escorted Luna on board a motorized pumpboat and abandoned him in the port area where the victim walked towards the house of his brother Police Officer 3 Jun Luna.

Luna, a supervisor of KUmalarang Central Elementary School, was  abducted along his wife Tessie last Jan. 27 at Barangay Diplo, Kumalarang town.

Luna’s wife managed to escape and report the incident to the authorities.

However, a detailed information provided by a police intelligence operative disclosed that hours prior to the release of Luna, a negotiation took place between the victim’s family emissary and the kidnappers in a coffee shop near a bus terminal in Buug town, Zamboanga Sibugay where the payoff of ransom was made.

The ransom was handed to a female courier of the kidnappers,  who was promised P10,000 as her share from the ransom.

The emissary of the family of the kidnap victim was later instructed to wait for a call to fetch Luna.

The police said upon release, Luna was brought by the  Anti-Kidnapping Group (AKG) to a hospital in Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur.