Marines rescue kidnap victim in Basilan

Marines yesterday rescued one of two employees of a money-lending company who were abducted by suspected “lost command” rebels of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Sumisip, Basilan last Tuesday, a military spokesman said.

Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres, Armed Forces’ public affairs office chief, said men of the Marine Battalion Landing Team 1 recovered Amid Sali, an employee of Kasanyangan Foundation Inc., from his captors in Barangay Upper Mahayahay, Maluso town.

Sali’s fellow employee Leah Laping is still being held hostage.

Torres could not say if there was a firefight prior to Sali’s rescue.

Sali and Laping were abducted while they, along with fellow employee Nashra Mujain, were traveling from Sumisip to Maluso. Mujain, however, managed to escape.

Last Monday, a Filipino-Chinese businessman, Diongin Que, was seized while on his way home from Leng’s Restaurant, which he owns, in Kakuyagan village in Jolo, Sulu. – James Mananghaya, Cecille Suerte Felipe and Roel Pareño