ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 5, 2011) – Philippine authorities have mounted a search for an Australian national who was abducted Monday in the southern Filipino province of Zamboanga Sibugay, officials said.
Officials identified the foreigner as Warren Rodwell, 53, of Sydney, who now lives in Greenmeadow Subdivision in Ipil town with his Filipino wife, Grace.
“The Australian was abducted by an unidentified armed group which fled towards the sea. Army and police units were already alerted about this,” said Army Lieutenant Colonel Randolph Cabangbang, a spokesman for the Western Mindanao Command.
Cabangbang gave no other details about the foreigner or who was behind the abduction. No individual or group claimed responsibility for the latest abduction, but Muslim rebels are actively operating in the province.
“Warren is just a simple man. They live a modest life – he and his wife Grace. They are not rich and live a simple life. We still don’t know who was behind the abduction, but there seems to be a pattern (of kidnappings). Luisa (Morrison) was also kidnapped here (in Ipil town). We don’t know what’s going on, but authorities are investigating this latest abduction. They are searching for Warren,” Cris Llanos, a spokesman for the provincial governor Rommel Jalosjos, told the Mindanao Examiner.
Warren’s wife has appealed to the kidnappers to free the Australian man, saying they don’t have money (to pay ransom).
In September, gunmen also kidnapped the Filipino wife of a Scottish national in Ipil town. The 34-year old Luisa Galvez Morrison, owner of RL Salon, was seized by rebels inside her salon.
The woman was rescued a week later after troops clashed with her captors in nearby Basilan province. Morrison’s husband, Raymond, is originally from Keith, Moray and moved to the Philippines and now works for an oil company in Malaysia. (Mindanao Examiner)
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