PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said Saturday night he has ordered the military to “blast” the Abu Sayyaf bandits who have been on a kidnap-for-ransom spree, even if hostages would also be killed.
“They say, ‘What about the hostage?’ Sorry, collateral damage,” Duterte said in a speech before the Davao City Chamber of Comerce and Industries.
He added that if the bandits were “blasted everyday” the kidnappings might stop.
“So better not get yourselves kidnapped,” he told the Davao businessmen.
On Saturday, officials said the Abu Sayyaf freed a South Korean ship captain and his Filipino crewman who were abducted from their vessel off the coast of Tawi-Tawi in October.
Sources said Capt. Park Chul Hong and Filipino crewman Glenn Alindajao were released after the payment of a P25 -million ransom with the mediation of former Sulu governor Abdusakur Tan but Peace Secretary Jesus Dureza maintained the government stuck to its no-ransom policy.
The Abu Sayyaf released Park and Alindajao to Moro National Liberation Front members Abraham Joel and Adon Adak in Indanan town and they were later turned over to Dureza at the residence of the former Sulu governor.
The abduction on board the 11,400-ton heavy load carrier Dong Bang Giant 2 occurred Oct. 20 just off the southern entry of the Sibutu Passage, a 29-kilometer wide channel used by merchant shipping in transit between the Pacific Ocean and the South China Sea. The cargo ship was heading for South Korea from Australia.