Sayyaf frees social worker
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Abu Sayyaf militants released a social worker unharmed and without any ransom Thursday night following negotiations with local officials and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Ungkaya Pukan, Basilan, authorities said.
Police said Jennelyn Luna-Enpera, a staffer of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s provincial office working on the conditional cash transfer program for MILF families, was freed at around 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the outskirts of Barangay Ulitan in Ungkaya Pukan town.
Enpera was meeting with the beneficiaries of the government program for poor families in Ungkaya Pukan when four Abu Sayyaf militants snatched her last Wednesday morning.
Senior Superintendent Mario Dapillosa, Basilan police director, said Enpera was released to Ungkaya Pukan officials and MILF leaders who initiated the negotiations. She was escorted and turned over subsequently to Sumisip Mayor Gulam Boy Hataman and police and military officials.
Dapillosa said no ransom was paid for Enpera’s release after the local officials and the MILF convinced the militants about the programs she was helping implement for poor families in Ungkaya Pukan.
Dapillosa said the heavy presence of police and the military and the fighters of the MILF 114th Base Command in the area could have also pressured the militants into freeing Enpera.
Authorities said the social worker was in good condition and was reunited with her family late Thursday night.
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