ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Armed men seized two sisters operating a printing press in Baloi town, Lanao del Norte last Saturday night but later freed one of them to relay their ransom demand for the remaining captive, police said.
The incident came as leaders of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and nearby provinces in Central Mindanao intensified efforts against kidnappings in a meeting with Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo and Philippine National Police chief Director General Raul Bacalzo last week.
Director Felicisimo Khu, chief of the Directorate for Integrated Police Operation Western Mindanao, identified the victims as Nadija Alvia Saldivar, 51, and her sister Ilda Maria Senedo, 46, who operate the Ivory Printing Press in Iligan City.
Police said the two sisters were on their way home in Barangay Palao, Iligan City on board a Kia Sportage when three armed men with Maranao accent flagged them down along the highway in Barangay Baloi last Saturday.
Khu said the kidnappers were on board another sports utility vehicle with the marking Alpha Phi Omega and armed with an M-16 rifle and two handguns.
The kidnappers commandeered the sisters’ car and later divested them of P300,000 in cash.
Saldivar was released last Sunday morning also in Baloi town to produce the P1.2-million ransom for her sister’s freedom.
“Our combined police forces in the region have launched operations to pressure the kidnappers to release (their remaining) captive,” Khu said.