September 21, 2004, MindaNews, Abu Sayyaf holding hostage in Sultan Kudarat, by Bong S. Sarmiento

September 21, 2004, MindaNews, Abu Sayyaf holding hostage in Sultan Kudarat, by Bong S. Sarmiento

KORONADAL CITY - Suspected Abu Sayyaf members are allegedly holding hostage a Chinese-looking man in Sultan Kudarat province, Allan Martin Membrellos, barangay captain of barangay Takupis in Sen. Ninoy Aquino town, today said in a telephone interview.

He said his constituents saw the suspected Abu Sayyaf members tagging the alleged kidnap victim in sitio Membalo, barangay Baluan, Palimbang town, which he said is about 1.5 kilometers from his village.
A river separates barangays Takupis and Baluan from each other, he said.

He said soldiers have been deployed in sitio Pusok, barangay Baluan to go after the armed men and that residents heard bursts of gunfire, indicating a gunfight, Sunday.

The town's policemen also went to his barangay Sunday to check on the reported presence of the heavily armed men near the boundary of Palimbang town, said Membrellos, who was reached by telephone at the Sen. Ninoy Aquino municipal hall.

Sen. Ninoy Aquino Mayor Rafael Flauta was not around to get the call and his cellular phone could not be contacted for further details on the matter.

MindaNews also failed to contact 604th Infantry Brigade commander Col. Jerry Jalandoni through his cellular phone to verify the claims of Membrellos.

Jalandoni said earlier that Abu Sayyaf members allegedly headed by Isnilon Hapilon were sighted in the mountainous portion of the nearby town of Bagumbayan between September 10 and 13.

But the mayor of Bagumbayan, Felipe Allaga, doubted the pronouncements of Jalandoni.

"It's not clear if the armed men are really members of the Abu Sayyaf. It's only the [military's] intelligence report saying they are Abu Sayyaf members," the mayor said earlier.

Membrellos said they also learned that the alleged Abu Sayyaf members had held hostage last Sept. 8 the wife of the village secretary of Baluan, whom he identified as Mrs. Dela Peña.

But dela Pena escaped from her alleged captors around midnight "by running in the dark," he claimed.
He said he was at the municipal hall today to ask town officials on the status of his request for a military detachment in his village against lawless elements.

Allan Sanchez, a municipal employee, said in a separate telephone interview that the town is on high alert following the reported presence of Abu Sayyaf members headed by Hapilon in adjacent municipalities.
This is the second time in over a year that the military claimed having sighted Abu Sayyaf members in the province.

Military officials said that in July 5 last year, Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadafy Janlalani [misspelled] and his men also purportedly landed in Palimbang, a coastal town.

In August last year Gov. Pakung Mangudadatu called for the pullout of government troops in Palimbang following the failure of the military to engage Janjalani's group in a clash. At least 7,000 individuals then left their homes in anticipation of an armed encounter.

The US government earlier offered $5 million (P250-million) for the capture of Janjalani, Hapilon and other top leaders of the Abu Sayyaf.