Michael Tan and Oscar Lu, both Chinese nationals, were kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf gunmen Nov. 10, 2009, and the group responsible is no longer communicating with the authorities for the return of the hostages:
Basilan Vice Governor Al Rasheed Sakalahul) said the bandit group earlier rejected an emissary sent by the government to negotiate and then cut off communication with officials after that.
“They sent home our emissary because they claimed to have already contacted the families of Michael Tan and Oscar Lu in China. They didn’t want our emissary because we told him not to talk about ransom,” he said.
The Abu Sayyaf faction, holding the two Chinese nationals and headed by Puruji Indama, has demanded P13 million in ransom money…”The truth is right now, we don’t know where the captors brought or are hiding the two. We don’t have anymore updates from the ground and this George Tan no longer communicates with the kidnappers since early this year,” (Sakalahul) said.
