POLICE and the military launched a bid to rescue two soldiers abducted on Wednesday allegedly by suspected members of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Compostela Valley.
Supt. Antonio Rivera, spokesman of the Southern Mindanao regional police, identified the snatched soldiers as Private First Class (PFC) Alabaso and PFC Añueber, members of the Army’s 25th Infantry Battalion.
The “kidnapping” allegedly occurred at around 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday at Barangay Casoon, Monkayo, Compostela Valley.
Rivera said the two soldiers are now the objects of rescue operations by a joint police and military team.
Initial investigation showed that Alabaso and Añueber left their patrol base at Barangay Banlag, Monkayo, onboard a motorcycle.
However, upon reaching Barangay Casoon, witnesses said armed men flagged down the pair and left with the two soldiers.
“The suspects, together with the victims, fled toward unknown direction,” Rivera said.
He added that immediately after the incident was reported, members of the Monkayo Municipal Police Station put up a checkpoint, possibly to apprehend the alleged kidnappers and their victims.
However, police at the checkpoint reported they failed to see anybody resembling either the armed men or the two soldiers.