ZAMBOANGA CITY, 26 June 2007 — Police stepped up search for a kidnapped Italian Catholic priest in the southern Philippines after security forces recovered a destroyed speedboat used by gunmen in spiriting out the foreigner to Lanao del Norte province.
Police said it recovered the parts of the boat believed used in transporting the prelate, Giancarlo Bossi, from Zamboanga Sibugay province where he was kidnapped June 10 by rebels.
The boat, originally painted blue, was covered in white paint to conceal its true color, police said, adding, parts of the wooden craft had been found on a coastal village near Sultan Naga Dimaporo town.
An Army commander earlier said the priest is still being held in Zamboanga Sibugay and that soldiers have surrounded the lairs of the kidnappers, headed by Akiddin Abdusallam, a rogue commander of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which is currently negotiating peace with Manila.
The MILF denied involvement in the kidnapping and is helping authorities recover the priest.
The kidnappers were demanding a million dollars for Bossi’s release.
Independent sources said politicians in Lanao del Norte were trying to negotiate for Bossi’s freedom.
Aside from politicians, private negotiators were also trying to seek the release of the prelate.
The Pontifical Institute of Foreign Missions recently put up an Internet diary to which showed a photo believed to be of the kidnapped missionary standing under guard in the middle of a marshland.
The photo has raised speculation that secret negotiations are going on between the kidnappers, the MILF and the Italian government.
Broadcaster Killed
A broadcaster was killed and his companions wounded in an attack early yesterday in the southern island of Tawi-Tawi, officials said.
Officials said gunmen killed Vicente Sumalpong, of the state-owned Radyo Ng Bayan, and wounded another journalist Vema Andam. Their unidentified driver was also injured.
The trio was on a motorcycle when gunmen fired on them near the Sea Orchid Subdivision at around 5.25 a.m.
Sumalpong reportedly had filed charges against several people in connection with his work and that a court in Bonggao is to decide on the case this week.
