MANILA—Inability to pay the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) ransom demand prompted the bandits to behead kidnap victim Patrick Jhames Almodavar on Wednesday afternoon.
This was disclosed by Western Mindanao Command (WMC) spokesperson Major Filemon Tan in an interview Thursday.
Almodavar was beheaded by the bandits around 3:00 p.m. at Barangay Buanza, Indanan, Sulu. His decapitated head was recovered by police at Barangay Kadjatan, of the same town, around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Almodavar’s family was reportedly unable to raise the PHP1 million ransom demand and this failure prompted the bandits to behead the victim on Aug. 24, the imposed deadline of the ASG.
The former was abducted by the Ajang-Ajang group last July 16 in Barangay Asturias, Jolo, Sulu.
With this latest atrocity, Tan said that additional troops will be deployed to Sulu to help in the ongoing campaign against the ASG.
He added that additional troops will come from the battalions currently inactive due to the ceasefire with the New People’s Army.
There are currently 5,000 troops in Sulu as of this posting, with another 2,500 from Luzon and Visayas on the way.