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Lt. Col. Jonathan Ponce, spokesman of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division, said there have been reports of a ransom demand for the release of fish trader Wilson Tan, 50, and his daughter Jennifer. But he said they do not know the amount involved yet.
The police, however, said the kidnappers want P5 million for the Tans’ release.
The Tans own the Cotabato Fish Trading.
Ponce said that when they conducted pursuit operations last Wednesday, witnesses said the kidnappers boarded a pump boat heading towards Kabuntalan town in Maguindanao, a known lair of kidnappers.
Reports said father and daughter, aboard their vehicle, were stopped by armed men wearing masks as they were about to enter their house compound in Cotabato City. They were then forced to board a gray Mazda van bearing license plate MVR-879, and whisked off towards a remote village at the border of Cotabato City and Kabuntalan.
Aside from being a kidnappers’ lair, Kabuntalan, a fifth class town, is also a known as a bailiwick of the renegade forces of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. (Malu Cadeliña Manar / MindaNews)