Italian priest abducted in Zamboanga

By Ronron
June10, 2007

An Italian Catholic priest was abducted Sunday morning in Zamboanga Sibugay province in western Mindanao by local criminals, police and military officials said.

Provincial Police Director Sr. Supt. Francisco Cristobal, Jr. identified the victim as Fr. Gian Carlo Bossi, 57, parish priest of Payao town.

Cristobal said Bossi was heading towards Barangay Bulawan in Payao to officiate a mass when he was snatched by more or less 10 fully armed men at around 9:30 am.

Bossi was then approaching Barangay Bulawan, onboard a motorcycle.

Cristobal said the suspects first held a civilian, who was also aboard a motorcycle, before they stopped and took Bossi. The civilian was subsequently freed and took the initiative to report the incident to police.

Cristobal said the suspects took Bossi to the nearby coast and boarded a motorboat heading to a still unknown direction. Bossi’s motorcycle was left behind.

The Philippine Army’s 1st Infantry Division, through Col. Godofredo Paderanga, chief of the unit’s Civil Military Operations, was quick to attribute the incident to a group of lawless elements headed by a certain Commmander Khidi.

But Cristobal said that the police, for its part, will not immediately adopt the theory of the military, saying they have no evidence yet against Khidi, who is said to be a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

He disclosed, nevertheless, that the local police have holdings against Khidi for alleged crimes committed in the past.

Asked for the possible destination of the abductors and their captive, Cristobal enumerated the following coastal towns of Zamboanga Sibugay: Olutanga, Naga, Ipil, and Tungawan; as well as the southern island provinces of Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-tawi.

Cristobal and Paderanga said that no ransom was so far being demanded by the abductors.

Cristobal said that immediately after the incident, the Payao Police Station went to the crime scene and conducted sea-borne patrol. It also coordinated with the neighboring police stations in the towns of Kabasalan, Naga, Ipil, and Tungawan for the conduct of their own sea-borne patrols in their respective areas of responsibilities.

Cristobal said he also coordinated with the military units in the area, particularly the Western Mindanao Command and the 1st Infantry Division, for support. He said the 18th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army was already mobilized to assist in the pursuit operations.

Cristobal said Bossi arrived in Payao in April of this year.

He said that prior to the incident, there is no intelligence report about plans to abduct the Italian priest.

In October 2001, Italian priest Giuseppe Pierantoni was abducted in the neighboring province of Zamboanga del Sur by the Pentagon kidnap-for-ransom group. He was rescued in April of the following year./DMS