Maj. Gen. Roy Cimatu, chief of the Army’s 4th Infantry Division, reported to the military’s Southern Command here that the victim, Jose Aberilla, was rescued through the joint efforts of the 30th Infantry Battalion and Iligan City Mayor Franklin Quijano, in Barangay Kiadlan, Marantao town.
Cimatu said the kidnappers, reportedly led by Dibangkelen Marabong and Candidato Bao, fled after sensing that the rescue team was closing in on their lair.
Five armed men seized Aberilla near a gasoline station in Marawi City as he was on his way to the Mindanao State University after attending a court hearing.
Police theorized that the abduction had something to do with the case filed against Sulpicio Lines by one Matuan Macapaar of Butig, Lanao del Sur.
Macapaar sued Sulpicio after his son Abulan accidentally fell overboard a company vessel bound for Iligan City from Manila sometime in April last year, and has been missing.
During the hearing, Macapaar’s counsel failed to show up, prompting Aberilla and a fellow lawyer to proceed to MSU aboard two cars. Hours later, Aberilla was gone. — Roel Pareño