Korean woman seized in Cotabato

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Suspected Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels kidnapped a 23-year-old Korean national in a busy area in Kabacan, North Cotabato Wednesday afternoon, just two hours after extortionists shot and seriously wounded a Chinese trader in a nearby town.

Superintendent Jose Calimutan, chief intelligence officer of the North Cotabato police, said the victim, Mafen Wo, who together with her sister-in-law, owns two big commercial establishments in Kabacan, was dragged into a white Mitsubishi car that fled toward Datu Montawal town.

Datu Montawal is a known haven of Moro rebels identified with the Pentagon kidnapping gang and the Al-Khobar extortion syndicate.

Col. Alejandro Estomo, commander of the Army’s 602nd Infantry Brigade, said Wo was walking with Rochelle Amante, 22, along USM Avenue when the armed men appeared and grabbed her. Wo’s store, Atchan Enterprises, is located in the vicinity.

The kidnappers did not take Amante but punched her on the face and body before fleeing.

Calimutan said the kidnappers’ getaway car was found by pursuing soldiers and policemen in Barangay Dungguan in Datu Montawal, gateway to the 220,000-hectare Liguasan Marsh, a known enclave of the MILF.

Chief Inspector Franklin Anito, chief of the Kabacan municipal police, said Wo’s relatives had not received any ransom demand as of press time.

“Obviously they (the kidnappers) are still on the run,” he said.

The peace and order council of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, chaired by Gov. Datu Zaldy Ampatuan, has directed the municipal governments of adjoining Datu Montawal and Pagalungan towns to help the police locate the kidnappers.

The kidnapping took place after suspected extortionists shot and seriously wounded businessman Cesar Lu in Pikit town, 12 kilometers south of Kabacan.

Inspector Elias Dandan, Pikit police chief, said Lu was walking along the highway near his store when motorcycle-riding men approached and shot him with caliber .45 pistols, then fled toward Pagalungan.