By Roy Ramos
ZAMOBOANGA CITY, Philippines
Police on Saturday continued their search for a suspected kidnap-for-ransom gunmen who seized two children and a teenager after they failed to kidnap a businesswoman in the Philippines Muslim south on Tuesday.
Sr. Supt. Sofronio Ecaldre told The Anadolu Agency that one of the trio seized - Zynielle Jay Garban, 2, a granddaughter of a town mayor - was found dead Friday.
He said her body was plucked from the sea by fishermen off the port town of Pitogo, Zamboanga del Sur province.
He added that she is believed to have been strangled as she had bruises around her neck.
The two other hostages - Ace, 3, and bakery worker Ledegie Tomarong, 17 - are still missing.
Ecaldre said 10 gunmen engaged in a shootout with police as they tried to abduct bakery owner Chzarenia Kapa Sajulga around 5:30 p.m. (GMT1030) Tuesday.
He said that the gunmen seized the three hostages who were playing near the town port and used them as human shields, which prevented police pursuing further.
The gunmen - believed to have links to the notorious Abu Sayyaf group - fled aboard three motorized boats which sped towards the neighboring province of Zamboanga Sibugay, some 90-km from the city of Zamboanga - a majority Christian city in the predominantly Muslim south.
Kidnap-for-ransom gangs frequently operate in the Zamboanga peninsula region - Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga Sibugay and Zamboanga City.
Police sources the gangs turn their captives over to the Abu Sayyaf and negotiate for a ransom that, if paid, is shared with the al-Qaeda-linked group.
In July last year, the nine-year-old daughter of a businessman was snatched in Olutanga town, Zamboanga Sibugay, at a family-owned eatery, and a school official was taken in August.
This year, the gangs snared a Korean businessman in January and a head teacher and teacher in March.
The kidnappers use isolated sea-lanes and coastal areas to grab their victims, who are then held captive in isolated Muslim villages in the peninsula.
Since 1991, the Abu Sayyaf -- armed with mostly improvised explosive devices, mortars and automatic rifles -- has carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortion in a self-determined fight for an independent Islamic province in the Philippines.
It is notorious for beheading victims after ransoms have failed to be paid for their release.
