Businesswoman seized in Zambo

ZAMBOANGA CITY - Four armed men abducted a Filipino-Chinese businesswoman around midnight Sunday in Barangay Tetuan here, fueling fears of a resurgence in kidnapping in Western Mindanao.

Police identified the kidnap victim as Juanita Lee, 60, a resident of Doña Maria Drive, Barangay Tetuan, and wife of the owner of the Nonita Foundry Shop in Barangay Talon-talon in this city.

Lee's abduction came after suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim extremist group, kidnapped Edwin Induso, 34, alias Bong Cua, who owns the Zamboanga Store and Sunrise Bakery in Jolo, Sulu last Thursday.

Authorities believed that Lee could have been kidnapped by her own workers who seized her using her own green Nissan Sentra.

Superintendent Karib Muamil, head of the Zamboanga City police, said Lee's abductors took her towards Barangay Talon-talon, a coastal village, where the car was later recovered.

He said they learned about the abduction only after the villagers found her car.

A police source revealed that Lee's family had refused to report the kidnapping to authorities for fear that she might be killed by her captors.

Elements of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF) in Mindanao were immediately deployed to rescue Lee. The Basilan police were also alerted to block the kidnappers' possible exit points.

The PAOCTF is also conducting a search and rescue operation for Induso who was allegedly being held captive by Mujib Susukan, alias Commander Robot, a leader of the Abu Sayyaf.

Induso was abducted along Arolas street in downtown Jolo on Jan. 6. He is now reportedly being kept by his captors in the hinterlands of Talipao, Sulu.

Maj. Salih Indanan, spokesman of the military's Southern Command, said Induso's family has not received any ransom demand from his abductors.

The military and the police have yet to rescue two other businessmen who were separately abducted by the Abu Sayyaf and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Western Mindanao last November.

Ralph Fonda, owner of a gasoline station, was kidnapped by alleged MILF rebels in Ipil, Zamboanga del Sur on Nov. 14. Three days later, Robustiano Hablo, who owned a trading firm in Jolo, was abducted by suspected Abu Sayyaf members in the province.

Indanan noted that the families of the victims are now having separate negotiations for their release.

"We are waiting first for the negotiations to bear fruit," he said. "If they fail, we'll launch rescue operations."

The Southern Command said at least 112 people were abducted by armed groups in Mindanao last year. Ninety-six of them were released either through negotiations or after payment of ransom.

Five escaped, two were rescued and three were killed by their abductors, while six others remain with their captors, the military said. - With wire reports