ZAMBOANGA CITY, 22 January 2004 — Unidentified men seized a businessman early yesterday while he was jogging on a village in the southern Philippine port city of Zamboanga, military and media reports said. The 48-year old William Clemente was seized in the village of Pasonanca around 5.15 a.m., the military’s Southern Command said. It said the police is still investigating the case and officials would not say if Clemente was a victim of kidnapping for ransom. But a woman who witnessed the incident said she saw a man shove the victim into the back of the van and fled. “The victim was struggling to free himself, but had been overpowered,” she told the local radio network dzRZ-Radyo Agong. The radio network said Clemente is engaged in money lending and that his family owns the Grand Prestige Lending Corp. in Zamboanga City. The chief of the National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force Angelo Reyes said he ordered an investigation into the incident.
