ZAMBOANGA CITY—The kindly priest had just had dinner and was strolling on the lawn of the convent when armed men burst in, demanding to see him.
Before anyone in the religious compound could do anything, the intruders had seized Irish missionary Michael Sinnott, hustled him into a van and fled on a boat in the latest attack on a foreign missionary in Mindanao.
The apparently well-planned kidnapping took place in the compound of the Missionary Society of St. Columban in Pagadian City at around 7 p.m. Sunday, police said.
As of Monday afternoon, authorities said they still had no firm clues as to who were responsible.
Policemen gave chase but failed to catch up with the armed group. Instead, they found the kidnappers’ getaway van on fire.
“The reason, probably, for burning the vehicle was to distract our law enforcers who were pursuing them,” Chief Supt. Angelo Sunglao, police chief for Western Mindanao, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.
Possible angles
Based on a police assessment, the kidnapping had the trademark of a Cotabato-based kidnap for ransom gang “because they burned the getaway vehicle,” Sunglao said.
But Sunglao said the police were not discounting other possibilities. “It can be the Abu Sayyaf, it can be other hired kidnappers or for political reasons,” he said.
Pagadian Mayor Samuel Co said that aside from kidnap gangs, the abduction “could also be a way for fund raising, you know election is near.”
The 79-year old priest was having a walk around the convent—a routine for him after he underwent heart surgery four years ago—when the gunmen struck, fellow Columban missionary Fr. Sean Martin said in Ozamiz City.
A convent employee was about to lock the compound’s gate, which is some 20 meters from the house, when two men insisted on coming in to “talk to Father Mick,” as Sinnott is popularly known.
From the lawn, the men took Sinnott to their vehicle. Some police reports said two gunmen were involved, while others said there were six men.
Ransom a factor?
Martin said the motive was unclear. “His being a foreigner might be a factor, thinking they might be able to make money out of bargaining for his freedom,” he said.
Police said the abductors brought Sinnott to the coastal village of Sta. Lucia on a motorized outrigger boat.
Malacañang and Church leaders condemned the attack.
At a press conference, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s deputy spokesperson Anthony Golez said “we abhor that kind of crime.”
Golez reaffirmed the government’s no-ransom policy in dealing with kidnappers.
The military and the police have launched pursuit and intelligence operations.
Reports reaching Camp Aguinaldo said the kidnappers headed for the neighboring Tukuran town after taking Sinnott on a boat.
“The only thing we can do right now is intelligence gathering so we can later launch a rescue operation,” Armed Forces spokesperson Lt. Col. Brawner Jr. told reporters.
Maj. Gen. Romeo Lustestica, 1st Infantry Division commander, said that as of Sunday night, government troops manning checkpoints had been alerted and seaborne patrols deployed. “But so far, there have been no sightings,” he said.
“Hopefully, they will already send their feelers,” he said, adding that the group was possibly planning to demand ransom.
PNP units alerted
The Philippine National Police said that its units in Western Mindanao also launched a region-wide operation to track down the kidnappers.
While wary about pinpointing any specific group, the military raised the possibility that they might be linked to the armed men who seized Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi in 2007.
The Zamboanga Peninsula is a known lair of the Abu Sayyaf bandits and rogue members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).
Several Catholic bishops appealed for Sinnott’s immediate release.
“Fr. Michael Sinnott is a man of peace. The priests, religious and lay people of the Diocese of Pagadian are deeply saddened by his forcible abduction,” Pagadian Bishop Emmanuel Cabajar said over Radio Veritas.
Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo said: “Let us respect the people who do God’s work.”
MILF helping
The MILF said it had mobilized its men to help Philippine security forces in the search for Sinnott.
Eid Kabalu, spokesperson for the MILF, told the Inquirer by phone that members of their ceasefire committee had coordinated with the military about their moves.
Kabalu said Abu Sayyaf men could be involved based on the location where Sinnott was taken.
It was the third case of abduction involving foreign missionaries in the last nine years.
In June 2007, Fr. Bossi was taken at gunpoint on his way to celebrate Mass in Payao, Zamboanga Sibugay. He was released after 33 days in captivity.
In 2001, Pentagon Gang kidnappers abducted Italian priest Guissepe Pierrantoni, while he was officiating a Mass in Dimatali town, Zamboanga del Sur. He was released on April 8, 2002, after six months in captivity. With reports from Ed General, Richel V. Umel, Jeoffrey Maitem, Inquirer Mindanao; Ceres Doyo, Jocelyn Uy, Christian V. Esguerra, Leila B. Salaverria, Dona Pazzibugan and Jerome Aning in Manila
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