MILF to help work for release of abducted Chinese trader

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front on Sunday night pledged to help work for the early recovery of a Chinese-Filipino trader kidnapped in Cotabato City Saturday. While the MILF said a joint Ad Hoc Joint Action Group is virtually dead for now, it is the MILF's "moral obligation" to help solve the case. "It is our moral obligation to help people who are in need, irrespective of confessional or nationality," an unnamed MILF military spokesman said on the MILF website Sunday night. On Saturday, unidentified gunmen seized Yuloyu Lim Yu, 56, owner of Yuking Guan Hardware, in Cotabato City. The MILF noted this was despite the heavy presence of Marines, police, and paramilitary men in the southern Philippine city. According to the MILF, the AHJAG allows the government and MILF to work together "to interdict and isolate kidnap-for-ransom groups and other criminal groups operating in and near MILF areas." Since the renewal of its mandate in November 2009, it has never met formally. The MILF claimed this was due to lack of interest on the part of the government. Citing reports reaching it, the MILF said the victim was kidnapped around 9 p.m. in front of a hotel along Governor Gutierrez Avenue in Cotabato City. The victim was forcibly dragged to a waiting getaway vehicle, which was abandoned later due to pressure from responding hotel security guards. Government security forces recovered the kidnappers' vehicle after it crashed into an electric post. Police have yet to identify the group behind the kidnapping. It was not clear if the gunmen have already contacted the victim’s relatives. — RSJ, GMANews.TV