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2 Coast Guard personnel abducted by Abu Sayyaf escape in Sulu
(Updated 11:50 a.m.) Government troops on Thursday recovered the two Philippine Coast Guard personnel in Indanan, Sulu after they escaped from the Abu Sayyaf group that abducted them last May.
Armed Forces of the Philippines public affairs office chief Col. Noel Detoyato said SN1 Gringo Villaruz and SN2 Rod Pagaling escaped from their captors during the skirmishes on Wednesday in Sulu that left 15 members of the bandit group dead.
The two were recovered around 7 a.m. and 8 a.m., respectively. They were immediately brought to a hospital for checkup.
"They were found in Barangay Buanza in Indanan, near Wednesday's encounter site, " said Detoyato.
He said the two were kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf last May 4 in Dapitan City and then brought to the island province of Sulu. Their companion, village chairman Rodolfo Buligao, was beheaded last Aug. 11.
For his part, Capt. Antonio Bulao of the Scout Rangers, said the two did not know of each other's escape until they saw each other Thursday at a local military hospital.
Officials said the fighting, involving elite Army Scout Ranger troops, left 15 Abu Sayyaf men dead. Only five enemy cadavers were retrieved while the deaths of the additional 10 was based on intelligence information.
Last June, a video posted on Facebook showed the three abducted men were blindfolded with their hands tied behind them. Behind them were at least eight armed men who all covered their faces. One of them was holding a bolo above one of the men's neck.
The Philippine Coast Guard then confirmed that two of their perssonel, Villaruz and Pagaling, were abducted with Bulagao, chairman of Barangay Aliguay in Dapitan. — with a report from Agence France-Presse/LBG/RSJ, GMA News
Armed Forces of the Philippines public affairs office chief Col. Noel Detoyato said SN1 Gringo Villaruz and SN2 Rod Pagaling escaped from their captors during the skirmishes on Wednesday in Sulu that left 15 members of the bandit group dead.
The two were recovered around 7 a.m. and 8 a.m., respectively. They were immediately brought to a hospital for checkup.
"They were found in Barangay Buanza in Indanan, near Wednesday's encounter site, " said Detoyato.
He said the two were kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf last May 4 in Dapitan City and then brought to the island province of Sulu. Their companion, village chairman Rodolfo Buligao, was beheaded last Aug. 11.
For his part, Capt. Antonio Bulao of the Scout Rangers, said the two did not know of each other's escape until they saw each other Thursday at a local military hospital.
"The heavy fighting gave them (Villaruz and Pagaling) the chance to escape because the Abu Sayyaf was focused on engaging our troops," Bulao said of the dramatic events on the militants' stronghold on the remote southern island of Jolo.
Last June, a video posted on Facebook showed the three abducted men were blindfolded with their hands tied behind them. Behind them were at least eight armed men who all covered their faces. One of them was holding a bolo above one of the men's neck.
The Philippine Coast Guard then confirmed that two of their perssonel, Villaruz and Pagaling, were abducted with Bulagao, chairman of Barangay Aliguay in Dapitan. — with a report from Agence France-Presse/LBG/RSJ, GMA News
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