A gang of kidnappers in the restive southern Philippines released on Sunday a Chinese tourist they kidnapped four days ago, officials said.
Jesus Sacdalan, governor of North Cotabato province, told Xinhua here that the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) helped convince the captors of Afen Ma, 24, to free her without ransom being paid.
"No ransom (was) paid to the kidnappers -- not a single centavo, " said the official, adding that the MILF's move showed their sincerity to help. MILF, the country's largest group, put much pressure on the kidnappers to release the Chinese national.
"The kidnappers were cordoned," he said.
Ma was about to buy some vegetables when two gunmen seized her, forced her into a car and ran away Wednesday afternoon. From China's southeastern province of Fujian, she arrived in the southern town of Kabacan with her husband as tourists about five months ago. Her brother-in-law runs a small department store there in North Cotabato. The military said Friday that the kidnappers demanded 13 million pesos (270,000 U.S. dollars) from her family.
The authorities earlier identified a certain Mayangkang Saguile as head of the kidnappers. Saguile had been charged for his participation in the kidnapping of local Chinese businessman Wilson Tan and his daughter, Jennifer, 10, earlier this year. The father and daughter were freed four days later after ransom money was paid.
On Sunday, Sacdalan said that a kidnap-for-ransom gang called "Pentagon" was responsible for the kidnapping. Saguile is reportedly a sub-leader of the gang.
"The group behind belongs to Pentagon gang. The case will be filed by the police anytime against the kidnappers," he added.
Sacdalan said investigators will accompany the victim to the southern city of Davao City where her family are waiting for further debriefing.
"She cannot speak English (nor Filipino). Our policemen will go with them in Davao City to get her accounts," Sacdalan said.
Kabacan town mayor George Tan said Ma was released around 8:00 a.m. local time (0000 GMT) in the marshy area of Rajamudah village, Pikit town.
"We are thankful that she (Ma) was released through negotiation made by the MILF with the kidnappers," Tan said.
Tan's wife, Luz, also former mayor and negotiator for the incident, said that there was no ransom paid to the captors in exchange for the freedom of the foreigner.
"We really beg with the kidnappers to release her because we don't want fighting will erupt again in the region. They listened to us," she said. Local soldiers and policemen refrained from military operation after Ma was abducted.
"The victim was not hurt except for the small bruises in her legs and hands and some mosquito bites," she added.
The Pentagon, blamed for at least 50 kidnapping cases in the southern region of Mindanao, first gained notoriety on Oct. 17, 2001, when it abducted Italian priest Guissepe Pierrantoni on his mission in Zamboanga del Sur province. Pierrantoni was released on April 8, 2002, after six months in captivity.
The Pentagon was also said to be behind the abduction of four Chinese engineers working on an irrigation project in Carmen, North Cotabato eight years ago. Two of the engineers were killed during a botched military operation.
(Xinhua News Agency May 31, 2009)
