A South Korean captain and a Filipino crewman held hostage by an unidentified armed group three months ago were released on Saturday.
The hostages were turned over in Sulu to Presidential Adviser on Peace Process Secretary Jess Dureza.
Dureza along with the hostage victims identified as South Korean Park Chul Hong and Filipino Glenn Alindajao immediately flew to Davao City.
According to Dureza, the government is still determining if the Abu Sayyaf Group was the group that kidnapped the pair.
“I wasn’t sure if they’re [ASG] the one who abducted them because the hostages were transferred from one group to another,” he stressed.
He stressed that no ransom was paid and that the Moro National Liberation Front helped the government in facilitating the release of the hostage victims.
“We don’t engage in ransom negotiations, the more na bibigyan ng ransom, the more they’ll strengthen,” Dureza explained.
However, Dureza revealed that the freed hostages claimed that they were taken by a group headed by a certain Abraham.
“When Abraham was killed, they were passed on to another group,” Dureza noted.
Dureza said the hostages have to undegro some trauma therapy and the Korean Embassy will take care of them.
“I contacted Mr. Bong Go [Head of the Presidential Management Staff], to inform the President [Rodrigo Duterte] that they are already en route to me and I will physically have the hostages with me,” Dureza said.
The Cabinet official suggested that all big vessels must be boarded by armed security officers so “they cannot just easily take hostages” and prevent seajacking to happen again.
It can be recalled that the victims were kidnapped last October from a South Korean cargo ship named as MV Dong Bang Giant 2 – the first such attack on a large merchant vessel.
The attack occurred just off the southern entry of the Sibutu Passage, a 29-kilometer (18-mile) wide channel used by merchant shipping in transit between the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea.
The channel lies near the southern Philippines’ Tawi-Tawi islands, which together with the nearby Sulu archipelago are preyed on by ASG based in the region.
The cargo ship was heading for South Korea from Australia.
The Filipino crew, Alindajao declined to be interviewed but gave a message of gratitude to the government for his release.
“I am thanking God for our safety because we already feel hopeless that time, and now we already went home safe with the help of Sir Jess and President Duterte for assisting us,” Alindajao said.
Meanwhile, Dureza said that Park will be brought to Manila while Alindajao will fly back to Cebu.
