By Edwin O. Fernandez
KIDAPAWAN CITY, (PNA) –- Alert policemen and civilians in Maguindanao rescued on Wednesday a Quezon City-based recruiter for workers abroad, hours after she was seized in Datu Odin Sinsuat town, police here said.
Police Inspector Datutulon Penguiaman, police chief of Datu Odin Sinsuat PNP, said 52-year-old Milagros Abu Hussein, was on board a passenger vehicle from Tacurong City heading towards Cotabato City with her recruits when armed men flagged down the vehicle in Datu Odin Sinsuat (DOS), Maguindanao and seized her and several women recruits.
Penguiaman said Abu Hussein, who runs a recruitment agency in Quezon City, and several women were brought by the suspected kidnappers to Barangay Dados, a remote village in Datu Odin town.
Penguiaman said the timely report from civilians in the village led the police to quickly rescue the businesswoman and her companions.
He said the policemen backed by elements of the 6th Infantry Battalion chased the heavily armed suspects who engaged the law enforcers in a shooting war.
Nobody was hurt in the shooting.
As the soldiers closed in, the kidnappers set free their captives and fled deep into the forest of Datu Odin Sinsuat.Penguiaman lauded a local anti-crime radio club which helped the police in locating the victims.