Abu Sayyaf tagged in Basilan kidnap

ZAMBOANGA CITY — The military tagged the Abu Sayyaf in the kidnapping of the nine-year-old daughter of a councilor of Lamitan, Basilan.

The local crisis management team has sent emissaries to negotiate the girl’s release with the kidnappers believed holed up in the mountains of the adjacent town of Tuburan.

The al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf snatched Donna May Ramos, daughter of Lamitan councilor Donel Ramos, Wednesday afternoon while riding her bike on the street.

Suspected behind the abduction were Abu Sayyaf members Jaid and Etang Awalal and Anik Abbas, and Ussi Gapor, a former Moro Islamic Liberation Front commander who had surrendered to the military.

Lamitan Mayor Roderick Furigay said they formed the local crisis management team Wednesday night to handle the abduction case.

"There is no ransom demand yet," Furigay said in a radio interview.

With the abduction, Furigay is worried about its impact on Lamitan’s hosting of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Business Congress next month.

"It has a big effect (on the business congress). Hopefully, if we can get her soonest, the better," he said.