The police in the Philippines have announced the arrest of a suspect, who, according to has been into the time f kidnapping of Americans in the country’s southern part; the police who announced the arrest Wednesday noted that they believed one of the victims, who was shot in the leg was still alive.
Two of the suspects on October 17th, according to the police, had kidnapped Elliot Onil Eastman, 26, in Sibuco town in Zamboanga del Norte province. Had surrendered to the police while they pointed fingers at the third suspect, who was taken into custody by the police in Sibuco
The police noted that investigations have shown that three other suspects who were still holding one victim, Eastman, have been identified. The Police noted that more persons could be arrested linked to the crime. The police noted that Criminal complaints of abduction were filed against the six suspects on Tuesday.
The regional police spokesperson, Lt. Col. Helen Galvez, told The Associated Press by telephone that they still believe that the victim was still alive with the operations of the police still ongoing; the police noted that the operations will continue until the victim was located.
It learnt that the police had started a house-to-house search in one unspecified area, Galvez said without elaborating. She added that the suspects belonged to a criminal group and not to any of the armed Muslim rebel groups, which have been blamed for a spate of ransom kidnappings in the southern Philippines over decades.
According to the report by the police, the kidnappers were arrested with M16 rifles and disguised themselves as police officers. The police further noted that one of the suspects shot at the man when he tried to escape from them; the suspect further dragged him into a motor boat and ran away. The police noted that AP saw the abduction, according to its report.
The police also disclosed that after investigations, the police found two empty casings of M16 ammunition and blood stains in Sibuco, where Eastman had been living for about five months before he was kidnapped.
The police explained that Eastman, who is from Vermont, journeyed out of the Philippines and recently returned to attend the graduation of his Filipino wife. Galvez said he has been posting Facebook videos of his life in Sibuco, a remote and poor coastal town where the suspects spotted him. He was confident. He was the only foreigner there, the police said.
The authorities have disclosed that the kidnapping for ransom was low in the relatively peaceful region. The current incident has reminded the police that there was a security problem that have taken over the southern Philippines, the homeland of a Muslim minority in the largely Roman Catholic nation.
The southern third of the Philippines has bountiful resources but has long been hamstrung by stark poverty and an array of insurgents and outlaws.
In 2014, there was a peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the largest of several Muslim separatist groups, which has considerably eased widespread fighting in the south. Relentless military offensives have weakened smaller armed groups like the violent Abu Sayyaf group over the years, substantially reducing kidnappings, bombings and other attacks.
Investigations have shown that the Abu Sayyaf group had targeted American and other Western tourists and religious missionaries, most of whom were freed after ransoms were paid. It was also discovered that a few of them were killed, including an American, Guillermo Sobero, who was decapitated on the island province of Basilan, and a U.S. missionary, Martin Burnham, who was slaughtered while Philippine army forces were trying to rescue him and his wife, Gracia Burnham, in 2002 in a rainforest in Sirawai town near Sibuco.
