Pentagon kidnaps Maguindanao woman

ZAMBOANGA CITY — The military has intensified its hunt for members of the notorious Pentagon kidnap-for-ransom gang after they snatched an alleged female financier of an illegal two-digit numbers game in Maguindanao last Saturday.

Lt. Col. Fredesvindo Covar-rubias, chief of the 4th Civil Relations Group, said the victim, a certain Roxas Dacil, 47, was abducted by at least 40 fully armed men led by Usop Hadj Abas, one of the leaders of the Pentagon gang.

Covarrubias said there is no word if Dacil’s kidnappers have demanded ransom in exchange for her release.

Anti-kidnapping units are still scouring areas in Datu Piang, Maguindanao for car dealer Norman Sia who was also seized by Pentagon men recently.

Such rescue operations have threatened the ongoing ceasefire between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front since some kidnappers have reportedly sought refuge in MILF-controlled areas in Central Mindanao.