Abu Sayyaf releases another Filipino hostage after 5 Malaysians rescued

A local tugboat chief engineer was released by his Abu Sayyaf captors on Monday night in a small town in Basilan, southern Philippines, four days after he and his captain were abducted off the waters of the province, China's Xinhua news agency reported.

Capt Jo-ann Petinglay, spokesperson of the military's Western Mindanao Command, said on Tuesday that the government troops recovered Laurencio Tiro at the shoreline around 10:30 pm Monday shortly after his release.

"They (Abu Sayyaf) were pressured by the presence of the military. There is no ransom paid (for his release)," said Petinglay when asked what prompted the Abu Sayyaf to release the kidnap victim.

Tiro, the chief engineer of Super Shuttle Tug 1, was abducted on Thursday afternoon off Sibago island in Basilan, along with tugboat captain who was rescued by the government troops the following day.

The release of Tiro brought down the number of kidnap victims in the hands of the Abu Sayyaf to 26, of which 20 are foreigners.

The release of Tiro came a day after the Abu Sayyaf released three Malaysian tugboat crew members in Sulu, who were part of the five crewmen of a tugboat abducted in July 19 last year off Sabah, Malaysia. The two other Malaysians were rescued off the waters of Sulu on Thursday dawn.

-- BERNAMA