After 14 days in captivity, the vice-president of Basilan State College was released by his kidnappers in the boundaries of Tipo-Tipo and Tuburan towns past 10 P.M. Thursday. Basilan Vice-Governor Al- Rasheed Sakalahul said he personally fetched Orlando Fajardo from a drop-off point after they had convinced the kidnappers to release the school official. “He is well and good. In fact, the military offered to bring him to Zamboanga Hospital for medical checkup [but] since it's Christmas time, he asked us to allow him to be with his family and maybe tomorrow he will go to Zamboanga for medical checkup,” Sakalahul said, noting that Fajardo's blood pressure Thursday night was normal. The military debriefed Fajardo then turned him over to his family in his residence. “He was only hurt once when he was abducted. While in captivity, he was treated well by the abductors,” added Sakalahul, who confirmed that the kidnappers were members of the Abu Sayyaf group. Fajardo was kidnapped on Dec. 10 in Sumagdang, Isabela City, the capital of Basilan. The kidnappers waylaid the multicab vehicle of the victim and forcibly took Fajardo, leaving his wife and a companion behind. The Basilan vice-governor said the military and Philippine National Police (PNP) are tracking down the abductors. Sakalahul admitted that the family of Fajardo paid at least P100,000 to the kidnappers which kidnappers euphemisticlly call “board and lodging” fees, euphemism for ransom. The victim's family first paid P30,000 four days after Fajardo's kidnapping, he said. They gave the remaining P70,000 to the kidnappers Thursday, he added. According to Sakalahul, the kidnappers could have realized that Fajardo's family was not capable of paying a huge amount of ransom. - ABS
