7 killed as suspected rebs seize trader’s wife

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Six kidnappers and a bystander were killed when troops tried to stop gunmen from abducting the wife of a Chinese businessman in Zamboanga del Sur last Tuesday, the military said.

In other developments:

• Kidnappers of Enrico Pelaez, son of former Vice President Emmanuel Pelaez, have sent a P1-million ransom demand to the Pelaez family, Senior Superintendent Leonardo Exclamado, Misamis Oriental police director, informed Gov. Antonio Calingin.

• Marine members of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force in Cotabato City clashed yesterday with the abductors of a trader’s five-year-old son in Libungan, North Cotabato.

• Senate President Aquilino Pimentel Jr. expressed concern yesterday over the kidnapping of Pelaez’s son and a nurse, Rachel Ann Valmoria, in Cagayan de Oro City from where he hails.

Ten armed men who arrived in three motorboats burst into the coastal home of wealthy trader Richard Tiu and seized his wife Marilyn in Barangay Dawa-Dawa, Alicia town at about 4:45 p.m., Col. Felix Cabreros said.

A member of the household managed to call for help from a nearby military detachment and responding troops clashed with the kidnappers, leading to the death of two of the kidnappers and a civilian bystander.

Three other civilians and a government militiaman were also wounded during the gunfight.

Firefight at sea

The remaining gunmen fled with their captive aboard two motorboats. The military pursued them in a boat, leading to a firefight at sea in which four more kidnappers were shot dead.

The other abductors managed to escape with their captive and are believed to be hiding in the small coastal islands off the province, Cabreros said.

He said the kidnappers were believed to be from a special operations unit of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the largest Muslim separatist group fighting for a separate state in Mindanao.

Peace talks with the 13,800-member MILF collapsed early this year when government troops overran the MILF’s main headquarters in Maguindanao and slapped bounties on the heads of its leaders.

Cabreros said his forces were throwing a dragnet around the area to recover the captive.

Muslim armed groups in Mindanao often resort to kidnapping of ethnic Chinese, foreigners and Christians to raise funds.

No clues on Pelaez

The Misamis Oriental police have yet to identify the kidnappers of Enrico Pelaez, managing director of the Mindanao Development Bank who was snatched last Nov. 23 while on his way to Ecology Village in Cagayan de Oro.

Earlier unconfirmed reports said his captors have demanded a P5-million ransom in exchange for his release.

Besides Pelaez’s case, authorities are also tracking down the abductors of Rachel Ann Valmoria, a nurse at the Cagayan de Oro Medical Center who was snatched last Nov. 21. Her captors have asked for a P100,000 ransom.

In a statement, Pimentel urged Philippine National Police chief Director General Panfilo Lacson to intensify rescue efforts for Pelaez and Valmoria.

"These abductions have struck fear in the hearts of residents of Cagayan de Oro which used to be peaceful and free from the dreaded kidnapping menace," he said.

In North Cotabato, Col. Renato Miranda, commander of the Second Marine Brigade, the PAOCTF’s lead unit in Cotabato City, said their men recovered the motorcycle used by the kidnappers of Edward Agustin, son of a merchant in Libungan town.

The five-year-old boy was last seen being brought to a secluded district in the boundary of Pigkawayan and Kabuntalan, a town in Maguindanao. — Roel Pareño, Lino de la Cruz, Perseus Echeminada and John Unson