ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - Gunmen suspected to be Abu Sayyaf members abducted a businesswoman late Friday afternoon in Mapun Island, Tawi-Tawi, according to a police official.
Senior Superintendent Joselito Salido, Tawi-Tawi provincial police director, identified the abducted victim as Sugar Diane Esperanza Buenviaje, 33, owner of Cagayan Enterprises general merchandise store in Mapun.
Mapun, formerly known as Cagayan de Tawi-Tawi or Cagayan de Sulu, is a fourth class partially urban municipality with more than 24,000 population off the province of Tawi-Tawi from the southwestern extreme of the Philippines and located close to Sabah.
Salido said investigation disclosed that three unidentified gunmen, armed with .45 caliber pistols and an UZI sub-machinegun pistol, seized Buenviaje from her business establishment at the vicinity of Barangay Lyubud about 5:45 p.m. Friday.
He said the suspects dragged their captive into a getaway ‘jungkung’ motorized pumpboat and escaped toward an unknown direction.
Jungkung is a Malaysian-styled pumpboat with shallow hull that can cut through shallow waters over reef banks and mangrove.
Police and military forces have been alerted in the nearby provinces of Tawi-Tawi, Sulu, Basilan and even in Palawan where the suspects could have brought their captive.
“We are conducting hot pursuit and we have already coordinated the Task Force Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, and Palawan to monitor the possible presence of the suspects and their captive female businesswoman,†Salido said.
According to Salido, the suspects have yet to contact the family of the victim.