ZAMBOANGA CITY (PNA) – At least three crewmen of a tugboat which was seized by unidentified gunmen a month ago in Siocon Bay in Zamboanga del Norte were released by their captors on Friday afternoon, the police reported over the weekend.

The Directorate for Integrated Police Operations (DIPO)-West said the victims were recovered at around 4 p.m. on Friday inside a hut in Barangay Sinoropan, Siocon town in Zamboanga del Norte.

The victims – who were identified as Felipe Miranda, Cecilio Layasan and Radsie Magtanong, the skipper, chiefmate and chief engineer, respectively, of M/T Marinero – were abducted in the evening of November 21 while they were traveling to Dapitan City, Zamboanga del Norte from General Santos City.

However, the DIPO-West did not disclose whether ransom was paid in exchange for the release of the captives as well as the identities or the group of the kidnappers.

Earlier, police and military authorities had disclosed that the kidnappers were asking some P60 million ransom in exchange for the release of the tugboat crewmen.

The DIPO-West learned from the freed hostages that the kidnappers had been calling the victims’ office in Cebu since the time they were seized.

The freed victims also told the DIPO-West that they started walking until they reached the place where they were recovered by the policemen after they were released.