Kidnappers demanded P10-million ransom Fishingboat skipper,two fishing crew remain in captivity- Bernie Concepcion

     The military and police forces are scouring the area in Patikul, Sulu in order to  ocate the 3 recently seized fishing boat crew members after intelligence reports revealed  that the suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits kidnapped them in the southern Philippines Saturday.
  
     Reports from reliable source in Sulu today Wednesday, the kidnappers are demanding P10-Million ransom money in exchange for the liberty of the hostages.
 
     However, the police and military officials would not confirm or deny the report while intelligence elements are trying to validate the rumor that the three are already held somewhere in the Patikul area.
 
      Sea pirates abducted Renato Panisares boat skipper and two boat crews identified as Wennie Ferrer, Assistance Engineer and Jonald Ocsiomar, Quarter Master off Sulu Archipelago waters in the southern Philippine region of Mindanao after they refused to pay extortion money, according to the police Monday.
 
    Sulu Police said the pirates snatched the fishermen near Menes island of PanglimaTahil (Bangas Island) and joint police and military elements are still trying to locate the victims.
 
     Intelligence reports show that the kidnappers and their captors were moving about in Sulu's coastal town of Patikul, where the Abu Sayyaf has mountain strongholds, he said.
 
     A source close to the military disclosed that the 3 could have been turned over to the hardcore leaders of the bandits in the forested mountain of Sulu.
 
      Provincial officials of Sulu led by Gov. Sakur Tan along with the Patikul town officials were trying to establish contact with the kidnappers to negotiate because a rescue attempt might danger the hostages, according to 3rd Marine Brigade Commander, Col. Remegio Valdez.
 
     "Jointly with the PNP elements, our soldiers are trying to determine the location of the hostages, but we cannot yet give the exact place." Valdez said. "We are zeroing in our efforts in the town of Patikul where our intelligence is being beefed up," added Valdez, in a long distance
 interview.
 
      The boat's captain and two other crew members were fishing off southern Sulu province Saturday when the gunmen believed to be members of the Abu Sayyaf aboard a motor boat
 approached and forcibly held them.
 
      It was reported that the kidnappers called the captives' fishing company in nearby Zamboanga city on Sunday, apparently to demand ransom, police Director Felicisimo Khu Jr., Chief of the Directorate for Integrated Police Office, said.

      Valdez said negotiations could be in progress as the Zamboanga-based Mega Fishing Company's owner had been in contact with the kidnappers.
 
     The new kidnappings and a recent deadly bombing in Sulu indicate the danger posed by the militants despite their many battle setbacks and underscore the difficulty of fighting terrorism, Khu said.
 
     "The armed men were collecting money from the fishermen and seized them when they refused to pay up," said Chief Inspector deputy provincial police chief Amil Baanan, who is also  operations chief of the police force in Sulu.
 
     The incident which happened Saturday and that police theorized that those behind in the incident are the same rebels blamed for the string of kidnapping and atrocities in the southern Philippines.
 
      Initially, the police reported that ordinary small time sea pirates who are out to victimized travelers aboard sea crafts passing the Sulu seas. "We still don't know, but  initial reports said the attackers were small time pirates or extortionists who are victimizing hapless fishermen," Baanan said.
 
     The Sulu Archipelago is a chain of islands between Zamboanga City and Sabah Malaysia in the southwestern part of the country.
 
     It was reported that the kidnappers called the captives  fishing company in nearby Zamboanga city on Sunday  apparently to demand ransom, police Director Felicisimo Khu Jr. said..
 
    The new kidnappings and a recent deadly bombing in Sulu indicate the danger posed by the militants despite their many battle setbacks and underscore the difficulty of
 fighting terrorism, Khu said.
 
   At lease 21 people were seized, mostly European tourists, from the Malaysian resort of Sipadan in 2000, and abducted three Americans and 17 Filipinos from the Philippines' Dos Palmas resort the following year.
 
    All the Sipadan hostages were freed, reportedly in exchange for huge ransoms. One of the three American hostages from Dos Palmas was beheaded, while a second was killed during an
 army rescue attempt. The third American was wounded but freed in the army rescue operation. .(faber_concepcion2004@yahoo.com)