MANILA, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- Philippine security forces rescued on Wednesday a Filipino female teacher in the southern Philippines after 20 days in captivity, the military said.
The military said the rescue operation conducted around 6:00 a.m. local time on Wednesday also led to the arrest of two female suspects in Jolo, a town in the southern Philippine Sulu province.
According to the military, the victim, Rose Singua, 58, an elementary teacher based in Zamboanga City, was abducted on Sept. 27 while she was heading to a wedding in Dipolog City in Zamboanga del Norte province.
The military said the abductors brought Singua to Jolo and reportedly demanded ransom for her release.
The military and the police set up an entrapment operation by sending the victim's daughter to a local Jolo hotel where the ransom payoff was to take place.
One of the women suspects who took the ransom money was arrested in a follow-up operation while another woman suspect was arrested in another pursuit operation.
Lieutenant General Cirilito Sobejana, commander of the military's Western Mindanao Command, said security forces are now tracking other abductors who are still at large.
On Oct. 5, Philippine police and military authorities also launched an operation to rescue a 70-year-old British national and his Filipino wife abducted in Zamboanga del Sur province in the southern Philippines.
Unidentified armed men abducted the couple at about 6:50 p.m. local time on Oct. 4 at their beach resort in Alindahaw, a village in Tukuran town in Zamboanga del Sur.
