ZAMBOANGA CITY—Combined police and military forces rescued Friday two of the three kidnap victims held by bandits in Basilan.

Senior Supt. Salik Macapantar, Basilan police commander, said on Saturday that the victims were rescued around 9:30 p.m. Friday in sitio Bohe Bessey, barangay Tuburan proper in the town of Mohammad Ajul.

Macapantar said the government forces rescued Pilardo Tolentino and Jayson Constancia after the kidnappers abandoned the victims when the troops stormed the bandits’ lair.

He disclosed that combined police and Marine forces stormed the kidnappers’ lair after receiving confirmed information on the location where the kidnappers held the captives.

He said the kidnappers, who are believed to have ties with the Abu Sayyaf bandits, fled following a brief firefight.

No casualties were reported on both sides.

Tolentino and Constancia, both technicians of a Globe subcontractor, were seized on Wednesday after they inspected a tower of the telecommunications company in barangay Languyan, Mohammad Ajul.

The two, together with nine other technicians, were on their way home when the kidnappers waylaid them. The other members of the group managed to escape.

Tolentino and Constancia are barangay councilmen of Switch Yakal, Lantawan town, aside from working as technicians of a Globe subcontractor.

The kidnappers, reportedly led by Usman Lidjal, a renegade Moro Islamic Liberation Front commander who have ties with the Abu Sayyaf, earlier demanded P3 million ransom for the safe release of Tolentino and Constancia.

However, Macapantar said investigators have yet to establish the identities of the other members of the kidnap group.

Tolentino and Constancia were taken to the Basilan police headquarters in Isabela City, the province’s capital, for debriefing.

The rescue of Tolentino and Constancia has brought down the number of kidnap victims in the hands of the kidnappers to one.

Still in captivity is Preciosa Feliciano, a nurse at the Ciudad Medical Zamboanga, who was seized on July 7 in this city and taken to Mohammad Ajul, Basilan. Macapantar disclosed that Feliciano was separately kept in captivity by the kidnappers from Tolentino and Constancia.

He disclosed that there is a possibility that Feliciano is no longer in Basilan citing that the police no longer has information on her whereabouts.

Mohammad Ajul Mayor Talib Pawaki disclosed that Feliciano was sighted a few days ago in barangay Tuburan proper in his town.

The kidnappers have demanded an unspecified ransom in exchange for the release of Feliciano.

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