ZAMBOANGA CITY, 11 June 2007 — Unidentified gunmen kidnapped an Italian missionary yesterday in the southern Philippines, officials said.
Giancarlo Bossi of the Rome-based Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) has just finished celebrating mass with villagers of Bulawan in the town of Payao, Zamboanga Sibugay province, when some 10 men took him at gunpoint to a waiting boat, said government and church officials.
The regional PIME head, Fr. Gianni Sandalo, appealed to the kidnappers to free the 57-year old missionary and not to hurt him.
“Father Bossi is a good man and there is no reason to hold him against his will,” Sandalo said.
No ransom demand had been made so far and no group has claimed responsibility for the latest abduction, which the military has blamed on former members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
“We’ve sent troops to track down the armed men, who are believed to be members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) under Commander Kedie,” said Col. Godofredo Paderanga, the commander of an army brigade in the province.
Maj. Gen. Nehemias Pajarito, commander of the army’s First Infantry Division, said troops were coordinating closely with the police in tracking down the kidnappers. Troops in the neighboring coastal towns of Naga and Tungawan had been alerted to intercept the boat carrying the gunmen and the priest.
Outlawed
Eid Kabalu, spokesman of the separatist MILF, said Commander Kedie had long been kicked out of the separatist group and that MILF forces will help in securing the safe release of Bossi.
“Commander Kedie is no longer a member of the MILF,” Kabalu told Reuters by telephone. “He has long been outlawed for criminal activities. We would cooperate with government forces for the early recovery of the priest.”
“That group is not MILF. We express our readiness to extend whatever assistance we can give to the Philippine authorities,” Kabalu said, adding that kidnapping is un-Islamic.
Agence France Presse said Kedie’s group has denied any involvement in Bossi’s disappearance and also offered to help the government secure his release.
At the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI condemned kidnappings around the world as “despicable acts,” making special mention of clergy in captivity.
“Unfortunately, I am frequently requested to intercede for people, among them Catholic priests, held captive for various reasons in various parts of the world,” the pope told thousands of pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square. “I appeal to the authors of these despicable acts, so that they be aware of the evil they do, and return their captives to their families.”
Bossi, who bad been in Payao since 1998, is the third Italian priest to be kidnapped in Zamboanga Peninsula in the past 10 years.
Rebels kidnapped Fr. Luciano Benedetti, 52, in Zamboanga del Norte province in 1998 and held him for nearly 10 weeks until he was freed in exchange for a huge ransom from the Philippine government.
In 2001, renegade MILF rebels snatched Fr. Giuseppi Pierantoni as the 44-year-old from Bologna was saying mass in the parish church of Dimataling town in Zamboanga del Sur. He escaped from his abductors after six months in captivity. (With input from agencies)
