Young trader released in Basilan

ZAMBOANGA CITY , Philippines  – Suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits freed on Tuesday night a young businessman they had held captive in the jungles of Basilan for almost five months, authorities said.

The victim, Donald John Capili, 19, who was seized last Aug. 28 in Liloy, Zamboanga del Norte and brought to Basilan, was released past 6 p.m. Tuesday after P50,000 was paid to his kidnappers for “board and lodging.”

A Zamboanga del Norte police official earlier said that the kidnappers demanded P15-million ransom and would not settle for a lower amount.

Capili, according to a source in the Basilan Crisis Management Committee (CMC), was fetched by an emissary, reportedly a nephew of a local official, in the remote village of Erelley in Sumisip town.

Capili was subsequently brought to the farmhouse of Basilan Vice Gov. Al-Rasheed Sakalahul, who chairs the CMC.

Capili was scheduled to be presented to Basilan Gov. Jum Akbar yesterday before he was to be reunited with his family.