NORTH COTABATO: A Filipina overseas worker who was kidnapped along with a Chinese tourist in a resort in Sabah last April by Abu Sayyaf gunmen has been reunited with her family in a remote barangay in Midsayap town in the province.
Mercelita Dayawan Tamalla, 40, mother of two, said she has no intention of returning to Malaysia to work again at the Singamata Adventures Reefs and Resort, from where she and a tourist, Gao Hua Yuan, were snatched.
“I’d like to thank the Malaysian government for helping facilitate my return to the Philippines,” Tamalla told reporters.
Tamalla arrived at their house in Bual District in Midsayap at about 7.00pm Friday from Manila.
Tamalla said they were kidnapped by seven heavily-armed Abu Sayyaf bandits, who brought them to the island province of Sulu, where they were held captive for almost two months.
“They kept telling us all they wanted was money in exchange for our release. I told them I am just an ordinary resort worker, but they would not listen,” Tamalla said.
the Philippine star
