‘No proof of life, ransom demand for Samal hostages’

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said on Sunday that there has been no proof of life or even a demand for ransom for the three foreigners and a Filipino who were seized by gunmen at a resort on Samal Island in Davao del Norte.

Duterte said authorities are waiting for developments in the kidnapping of Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad, 56; Canadians John Ridsdel, 68, and Robert Hall, 50, and Hall’s girlfriend Marites Flor, who were seized from the Holiday Ocean View Marina in Barangay Camudmud on Sept. 21.

Sources from the intelligence community said the kidnappers were composed of a new breed of Abu Sayyaf fighters. 

They said relatives of the Abu Sayyaf’s founding members like Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani and his brother Khadafy Janjalani have come out to lead the group.

The group, known for kidnapping and other terrorist acts, reportedly raised funds from kidnappings and extortion.

A report estimated the group’s earnings from ransom payments between $10 million and $25 million in 2000 alone.

According to the US State Department, the group may be receiving funding from radical Islamic benefactors in the Middle East and South Asia.

Authorities are tracking down at least 11 armed men who snatched the victims from their yachts.

Two of the suspects are now in police custody.

Duterte identified one of them as Pandajar Adona, alias Banon, said to be a resident of Bunawan district here in Davao City. 

The two were arrested in a follow-up operation conducted after they were identified in video footage taken by closed-circuit television cameras installed at the crime scene.

Duterte expressed belief the group that seized the foreigners and a Filipina could also be the same men who seized Italian businessman Rolando del Torchio in Dipolog City last week.