A Chinese woman was abducted by a gang in southern Philippines on Wednesday, local police said on Friday. The kidnappers are believed to be part of a gang called Pentagon.

Emmanuel Pinol, vice governor of North Cotabato province, told Xinhua that Afen Ma is now in the hands of a kidnap-for-ransom gang called "Pentagon" at a marshy area in neighboring Maguindanao province, and a sub-leader named Mayangkang Saguile was behind the abduction.

"But I don't have (any) idea if the kidnappers already phoned the victim's family. There's a negotiation ongoing," Pinol said. Earlier, an Army official said that Luz Tan, wife of a local government official, was negotiating with the kidnappers for the release of the Chinese national.

(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency May 31, 2009)