Manila: The son of a gas station owner was kidnapped by armed men in the southern Philippines, where an Al Qaida-linked group has been operating since the early nineties, police said.
Four unidentified gunmen kidnapped Michael Santa Teresa Co, 27, at a family-owned gasoline station in Poblacion village, Siocon town, Zamboanga del Norte on Tuesday morning.
Quoting witnesses, Senior Inspector Joseph Ortega, spokesman of the regional Philippine National Police (PNP) in a statement said the robbers, who had high powered firearms, emptied the business’s cash register before they seized Co at gunpoint and forced him to board a getaway vehicle which sped to Latabon village.
Police found the getaway vehicle in Balili village late on Tuesday afternoon, but it was abandoned, its tyres blown up, Ortega said, adding witnesses claimed the kidnappers transferred their victim to a small motorised fishing vessel.
The kidnap-victim is related to Siocon’s Mayor Julius Lobrigas, another source said.
The kidnappers have not yet called Co’s family to demand ransom for the release of the kidnap-victim, Ortega said.
While no one has claimed responsibility, the Abu Sayyaf militant group has been blamed for high profile kidnap-for-ransom, beheadings, bombings, and other terror activities in the south and in Metro Manila.
It used to prey on foreign missionaries, tourists, and development workers. Recently it has been blamed for kidnapping Filipino-Muslims.
It has active links with the Jemaah Islamiyah, the Southeast Asian conduit of Al Qaida.
