MSU dean rescued

MARAWI CITY — A dean of the Mindanao State University (MSU), who was abducted last Oct. 16, was rescued early yesterday in Marantao, Lanao del Sur by a combined team of the Army, police and the school’s security force.

Col. Samuel Bagasin, commander of the Army’s 402nd Infantry Brigade, said the victim, Rodrigo Fontillas, dean of the MSU College of Forestry, was rescued in the hinterland of Marantao at about 5 a.m.

The kidnappers, led by one Abu Ayub Punting, managed to escape when elements of the 30th Infantry Battalion, the police and the MSU’s peacekeeping force swooped down on their lair.

Bagasin said the kidnappers took Fontillas to different parts of Lanao del Sur as they negotiated their demands with MSU, among them the rehiring of and payment of unpaid wages to eight security guards the school had terminated.

Fontillas was unharmed during the rescue operation, and was later turned over to MSU president Camar Umpa. He was reunited with his family in Iligan City in the afternoon. — Lino de la Cruz