118,459
edits
Difference between revisions of "Zamboanga Sibugay News"
Zamboanga Sibugay News (view source)
Revision as of 14:37, 18 December 2011
, 14:37, 18 December 2011→Aussie's captors contacted gov, says security official
| Line 43: | Line 43: | ||
---- | ---- | ||
<!--- DO NOT EDIT ABOVE THIS LINE ---> | <!--- DO NOT EDIT ABOVE THIS LINE ---> | ||
==Australian’s kidnappers posed as policemen – witnesses== | |||
*Source: http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/news/regions/13424-australians-kidnappers-posed-as-policemen--witnesses | |||
*Sunday, December 18, 2011 | |||
:by AL JACINTO | |||
ZAMBOANGA SIBUGAY: A Filipino farming couple said they have witnessed how gunmen dragged an Australian man they kidnapped in the southern Philippine province of Zamboanga Sibugay. | |||
Joel Bulay, 44, and his wife, Rosanna, 41, said they witnessed how Warren Rodwell, 56, was being dragged away by gunmen who introduced themselves as policemen. | |||
“We saw the man they call Warren Rodwell as he was being dragged away at gunpoint by four men. One of the men who was armed with an M16 rifle told us not to be afraid because they are policemen as they hurriedly dragged the white man and they disappeared in the dark over there in the bushes that lead to the river and the open sea,” said Joel as he points to the horizon outside the family’s grass hut in the village of Pangi where the kidnappers had escaped. | |||
“I was really scared, so scared that I was trembling in fear and could do nothing because we fear for our safety. One of my girls, who is five years old, suspected it was kidnapping and I told her to keep quiet because we are scared the gunmen will take us and use our family as shield in their escape,” he said. | |||
The farmer said he saw Rodwell in handcuffs as two of the gunmen were holding the foreigner tightly in both his arms and another man, armed with pistol, pushed him to walk faster as the fourth kidnapper pulled him by his cuffs. | |||
Rosanna said they heard one gunshot in Rodwell’s house and then saw the gunmen dragging the foreigner to the bushes. “He could hardly walk as if he was in pain, but we did not hear anything from Rodwell as they passed by our house. He did not say anything and we are not sure if Rodwell saw us,” she said, adding the kidnapping coincided with a mysterious blackout in the subdivision. | |||
“It was really mysterious. The kidnappers struck just as the lights went off and only in our subdivision and electricity came back an hour later,” the woman said. | |||
Security officials said Rodwell might have been shot and wounded by the kidnappers during a struggle. | |||
Government troops continue their search for Rodwell on Thursday, but there have been no reports about the former Australian army soldier. Rodwell married a 27-year old Filipina woman - Mariflor Gutang – in June this year after a short “Internet” love affair and moved to Ipil town where he bought a house which is heavily barbed and corralled. | |||
Rodwell’s neighbors described him as a strict man, others said he is arrogant and would often drive away people staring or passing near his house. “He is really strict and perceived as arrogant. He would drive people away and he does not want neighbors near his house. He does not speak to us or mingles with his neighbors,” Joel said. | |||
But Merly Suan, 18, described Rodwell as a silent man who goes by his everyday life alone. “He sometimes smiles at me if I see him in his motorbike. I think he is a good man and we pity him. We pray for his safety,” she said. | |||
Rodwell’s wife left him after a fight last month and now lives with her parents in their ancestral home in the town of Naga also in Zamboanga Sibugay province. She has appealed to the kidnappers to free Rodwell, saying he is not rich and is ill. | |||
==Aussie's captors contacted gov, says security official== | ==Aussie's captors contacted gov, says security official== | ||
*Source: http://www.philstar.com/nation/article.aspx?publicationsubcategoryid=67&articleid=758802 | *Source: http://www.philstar.com/nation/article.aspx?publicationsubcategoryid=67&articleid=758802 | ||
| Line 59: | Line 97: | ||
Authorities suspect the kidnappers may have brought 56-year-old Rodwell to Basilan, a known turf of Abu Sayyaf militants who have been involved in several ransom kidnappings. | Authorities suspect the kidnappers may have brought 56-year-old Rodwell to Basilan, a known turf of Abu Sayyaf militants who have been involved in several ransom kidnappings. | ||
Rodwell was seized from his home in Barangay Upper Pangi, Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay last Dec. 5. | Rodwell was seized from his home in Barangay Upper Pangi, Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay last Dec. 5. | ||
==NPAs assault military post, 2 wounded== | ==NPAs assault military post, 2 wounded== | ||