The military on Tuesday said a body believed to belong to a Malaysian kidnap victim who was beheaded recently by Abu Sayyaf terrorists has been exhumed in a remote place in Parang, Sulu.
But Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman Colonel Restituto Padilla said there is no confirmation yet if the body really belongs to Bernard Then unless confirmed by DNA test.
“Not yet, once that is matched and I think we also requested the DNA sample of relatives,” he said.
Then and businesswoman Thien Nyuk Fun were kidnapped on May 14 in Sandakan, Malaysia and brought to Sulu for ransom negotiation.
Padilla said intelligence operatives were able to locate the exact place where the alleged body of the victim was buried by the bandits.
Troops from the 501st Infantry Brigade went to the place and exhumed Monday night the body in Sitio Lungon-Lungon in Barangay Lanao Dakula.
They immediately brought the body to Camp Teodulfo Bautista in Barangay Busbus, Jolo and transported it to a funeral parlor in Zamboanga City where the supposed head of the kidnap victim was preserved.
On Nov. 17, the Malaysian was reported beheaded by the Abu Sayyaf. His head was found later inside a sack littered in Barangay Walled City in Jolo town.
The military said those behind the beheading were Alhabsy Misaya and Idang Susukan.
The beheading news of Then was released during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit held in Manila last month. Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who was among the delegates, condemned the barbarism of the Abu Sayyaf bandits.