Daily Times

MANILA: Abu Sayyaf militant group released a Filipino hostage after nine months in captivity in the Philippines, CNN quoted military as saying.

The group woke up Marites Flor at dawn and dumped her outside the home of a local governor in Sulu, it said. Her release comes after the militants beheaded two Canadian hostages who were captured with her in September at a resort.

– ‘Treated us like dogs’ –

Marites Flor was released by Abu Sayyaf militants in Jolo, the southern island of Mindanao. The victim suffered constant abuse at the hands of their kidnappers, she said after she was freed. “They treated us like dogs, like kids.

They beat us up when we make mistakes,” she told the media. One of the two hostages beheaded was her partner, Robert Hall, who was killed after the deadline passed for a ransom payment, the Philippines government said this month.

Ransom demand

His execution followed that of fellow Canadian John Ridsdel in April. Flor, the two men and Norwegian national Kjartan Sekkingstad were seized at a resort off the coast of the southern island of Mindanao. The three were visiting the resort’s marina on their yacht, and Sekkingstad was the manager of the property.

Abu Sayyaf is still holding Sekkingstad. The militant group had asked for $6.5 million in ransom per hostage to be paid by April 25.