Beef up Zambo City security to thwart kidnaps, AFP urged

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – The local crisis management committee has urged the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to beef up its security forces in this southern port city following the kidnapping of two US citizens and a Filipino relative recently.

Mayor Celso Lobregat, who chairs the panel, said they earlier had asked the military to redeploy the riverine troops of the Special Forces Battalion to secure the city’s island villages and coastlines and deter kidnapping groups from using these areas as staging points for their activities.

Lobregat disclosed their request to the AFP when asked if the city government would invest in security to thwart kidnappings, the latest victims of which were Gerfa Yeatts Lunsmann, 42; her son Kevin Eric, 14; and her Filipino nephew Romnick Jakaria, 19.

The Lunsmanns, who reside in the US state of Virginia, and Jakaria, who hails from Malamawi Island in Basilan, were seized last July 12 on Tictabon Island off this city.

There has been no fresh word on the fate of the victims, but authorities confirmed negotiations between their family and the kidnappers who reportedly demanded a huge ransom in dollars.

For local leaders, the reorganization and transfer of government troops based here have affected the security situation in the Zamboanga Peninsula and Basilan, making residents vulnerable to kidnapping groups, with nearly a dozen seized in the past months.

Lobregat said the transfer of soldiers to other places has affected the strength of Task Force Zamboanga, the anti-terror military unit that used to have the size of nearly a brigade.