Sibugay police bares identities of Korean businessman’s abductors

By Teofilo P. Garcia, Jr.

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Jan. 27 (PNA) -- Police authorities have tagged members of a kidnap-for-ransom-group (KFRG) with ties with the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) as the ones responsible in the abduction of a Korean businessman in Zamboanga Sibugay province.

Senior Supt. Robert Roy Bahian, Zamboanga Sibugay police director, disclosed the identities of the suspects based on the testimonies of the victim’s companions who managed to escape when the victim was seized.

The victim, Hong Nwi Seong, 73 (not Noui Hong Sung as earlier reported), was seized by gunmen aboard a mini-van around 9:30 p.m. Saturday in Barangay Surabay, R.T. Lim, Zamboanga Sibugay.

Those who managed to escape were Hong’s son, Gobui, and Park Gisuk. They sustained bruises during their escaped.

Bahian said the witnesses were able to identify three of the suspects through photographs shown to them in the course of the investigation.

Bahian said the suspects were identified as Abral Abdulsalam of Barangay Mamagon, Naga, Zamboanga Sibugay, and Munib Enriques of Barangay Tenan, Ipil of the same province.

Bahian said the third suspect, who was also identified through a photograph, is an Abu Sayyaf member based in Basilan province.

He said that Abdulsalam is the younger brother of Waning Abdulsalam, the leader of a kidnap group known as the Abdulsalam group based in Zamboanga Sibugay.

He said that Enriques is a cousin of Ayub Enriques. Both are members of the Abdulsalam group.

Ayub (Enriques) was arrested January 16 at his residence in Barangay Tenan, Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay. He has two standing warrants of arrest for the crime of murders.

Bahian said that Hong arrived last Thursday in R.T. Lim, Zamboanga Sibugay purposely to visit as well as to check on the small-scale mining business of his son.

He said that prior to Hong’s abduction, the victim together with his wife, Sik Young Lee; son, Gobui; Park; and another Korean national, Jong Beoum Kim took their dinner at the residence of Bert Bayona, the business partner of his son.

After the dinner, Bahian said the Hong family and their two Korean national companions went home to their rented house in Barangay Surabay, R.T. Lim. The house is owned by Suzette Rubio Espinosa of the same place.

He said that suddenly a mini-van with gunmen aboard arrived and barged in while the Koreans were about to go to sleep.

He said the gunmen forcibly took Hong, his son, Gobui and Park but the two managed to escape except for Hong.

Pursuing policemen found the mini-van of the suspects, which was already burned, in Sitio Limono, Barangay Roxas, R.T. Lim town.

Meanwhile, Bahian said they have taken Hong’s wife and son as well as Park and Jong to safer place and provided them security escorts. (PNA)
CTB/TPGJR/EBP