ZAMBOANGA CITY – The chief officer of tugboat T/B Charles, one of seven Indonesians kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), was found by the military Wednesday afternoon.
Maj. Filemon Tan Jr., spokesman of the AFP Western Mindanao Command, identified the Indonesian as a certain Ismail.
He was was found at 4:30 p.m. along the road leading to Barangay Bual, Luuk, Sulu.
Ismail was with compatriot Mohammad Sayfan when they made their escape, but went separate ways after being chased by their captors.
Sayfan was rescued early in the day by local residents along the shoreline of Barangay Bual.
Five more Indonesians, including ship captain Ferry Arifin, remain in ASG hands as the military tries to rescue them.
The others are M. Mahbrur Dahri, Edi Suryono, M. Nasir and Robin Piter.
The Indonesians were abducted allegedly by the Muktadil brothers – Nickson, Brown, Badung and Dadis – and later turned over to ASG sub-leader Majal Adja, according to the military.
It was reported that Arifin had called his wife in Indonesia a day following their abduction and informed her about the ASG’s ransom demand worth 20 million Malaysian ringgit.
At least 17 other Indonesian sailors had been kidnapped in separate incidents in March and April of this year. They were released after paying ransom.