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ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews/24 May) – Suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits have freed the social worker they seized last Wednesday in the municipality of Ungkaya Pukan, Basilan province, a police official said Friday.
Senior Supt. Mario Dapilloza, Basilan police director, said the victim, Jenelyn Entera, was freed at around 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Barangay Marang in Sumisip town.
Entera is in charge of the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps) in Ungkaya Pukan town.
She was freed following successful negotiations initiated by the Crisis Management Committee headed by Basilan Vice Governor Alrasheed Sakkalahul, Dapilloza said.
She was released to Sumisip Mayor Gulam Hataman and to Lt. Col. Leonardo Dacumos, commander of the Army’s 64th Infantry Battalion, who in turn took her to Isabela City, Dapilloza said.
Entera is now reunited with her family, he said.
The victim was inspecting some of the 4Ps beneficiaries when four gunmen suspected to be Abu Sayyaf bandits seized her at around 9 a.m. Wednesday in Barangay Ulitan in Ungkaya Pukan.
The suspects, armed with caliber .45 pistols, forced Entera to board one of the two motorcycles without registration plates and sped towards the municipality of Sumisip. (MindaNews)