NORTH COTABATO, Philippines – The local government of Midsayap extended cash and food assistance to the children of kidnap victim Marcelita Dayawan-Tamalla, abducted along with a Chinese tourist from a seaside resort in Sabah, Malaysia more than a week ago.
The assistance was personally extended last Tuesday by the acting mayor of Midsayap, Morata Mantil, to Tamalla’s children, both minors, in their village in Barangay Agriculture in the southeast of the municipality.
Tamalla, who works in the Singmata Reef Resort in Semporna, was kidnapped by suspected Abu Sayyaf bandits along with Chinese national Gao Huayan.
They were both taken by their captors somewhere in Sulu using a small motorized watercraft.
Mantil said North Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza ordered the provincial social welfare office to monitor the condition of the children and provide them all the assistance they would need.
Tamalla, who is in her early 40s, is widow of a member of the Philippine Marine Corps who died of a lingering illness more than a decade ago, forcing her to seek employment abroad.
Mantil said the Midsayap local government and the office of Mendoza are now cooperating in overseeing the welfare of Tamalla’s two children, who are residing with relatives.