PAGADIAN CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 2, 2012) – Masked gunmen snatched late Monday a municipal mayor in the restive region of Mindanao in the southern Philippines, security officials said.
Officials said the men, armed with automatic weapons, seized Mayor Jeffrey Lim, of Salug town, and escaped onboard a van which was later found abandoned and burned in the village of Caracol.
Col. Gerry Barientos, commander of the 102nd Infantry Brigade, said they have alerted security forces after receiving reports that Lim was abducted in Salug town.
“Mayor Lim was seized by gunmen at around 7 p.m. while on his way to the bus terminal in Salug town. We have alerted our forces and put up road blocks and checkpoints along the highway,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.
The military’s Western Mindanao Command said at least 10 gunmen were involved in the abduction.
“Mayor Jeffrey Lim was kidnapped by at least 10 unidentified men wearing bonnet that were onboard a yellow van. The vehicle was recovered abandoned and burned in a village in Salug. There is a joint army and police rescue operation now. All municipal police stations in Liloy, Gutalac, Labason and Baliguian in Zamboanga del Norte province have been alerted about this incident,” Lt. Col. Randolph Cabangbang, a regional military spokesman, said in a separate report.
He said the motive of the kidnapping is still unknown and the gunmen have not contacted the politician’s family.
No individual or group claimed responsibility for the abduction, but an army intelligence report pointed to rogue Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels as behind the attack. The MILF is currently negotiating peace with Manila.
Communist rebels are also actively operating in the province. (Mindanao Examiner)
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