THE military said Monday the bloodied body of a German woman in her 50’s was found Saturday inside a yacht, and that she was believed to have been killed by Abu Sayyaf terrorists who also abducted a 70-year-old fellow German off Pangutaran, Sulu.
Major Felimon Tan Jr., spokesman of the Western Mindanao Command, identified the victim as Sabina Wetch. He said she had gunshot wounds and a shotgun was found beside her.
Tan made his statement even as Malacañang on Monday declined to comment on the matter.
“The matter is under investigation and the government is in conversation with our regional counterparts,” presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said in a text message.
Meanwhile, Peace Process Secretary Jesus Dureza said the Duterte administration will be forming a five-man panel led by MNLF founding chairman Nur Misuari that will be separate from the MILF-led expanded Bangsamoro Transition Commission.
President Rodrigo Duterte created the commission when he signed an executive order creating it on Monday. The commission is tasked to draft an enabling law that will serve as the legal foundation of the future Bangsamoro government in Mindanao.
Dureza said he asked Misuari to “also organize a five-person panel” that the government will engage with because “you cannot mix him with the MILF umbrella because he has his own stand.”
“The President caused the suspension of the hearings and the enforcement of the warrants of arrest against Misuari so he could participate in the peace process,” Dureza said.
Wetch’s body was found inside the abandoned yacht drifting in the vicinity of Laparan Island. Members of the Joint Task Force Tawi-Tawi tugged the yacht to the port for investigation.
Later the same day, the military confirmed a report about the abduction of a German identified as Juegen Kantner, a companion of Wetch.