3 RP engineers working for US project kidnapped in Sulu

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Three Filipino engineers, one of them project manager of a US government-run road project, and their driver were abducted by unidentified gunmen in Sulu last Tuesday, officials said yesterday.

Western Mindanao Command chief Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo said initial reports from the Army’s 104th Brigade said the four were forcibly snatched while inspecting a nearly completed road in Barangay Biid, Parang town around 4:30 p.m.

Sulu Gov. Benjamin Loong said he has sent government emissaries to relatives of the suspects, whom he did not name. "We’re hoping to have a positive result," he said.

One of those kidnapped was Romeo Rivera, an engineer of Monolithic Construction Co. contracted to work on a road-building project partly funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Growth and Equity in Mindanao (GEM) program.

Rivera was accompanied by two other engineers, Reynaldo Rubio and Larry Bautista, who were inspecting a completed portion of a Parang-Indanan road project.

The three engineers were on board a vehicle driven by Isidro Amaramo when they were flagged down by unidentified armed men before they were abducted. Two others managed to escape.

It was not immediately known whether the gunmen had any links with the Abu Sayyaf but there were reports the kidnappers were led by a certain Bong, son-in-law of a certain Maas Asdah, the chief security officer of GEM facilities in Parang.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) public information chief Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro said troops from the Army’s 33rd Infantry Battalion launched hot pursuit operations against the gunmen.

The motive for the abduction was not immediately clear, although authorities noted kidnapping in Sulu usually involved ransom demands.

Loong, however, warned that if negotiations fail, military action is inevitable since government troops and policemen are already poised to launch rescue operations.

The US Embassy in Manila denounced the abduction yesterday, describing the incident as "tragic and unacceptable."

"We regret this kind of lawlessness interfere with the development projects in Jolo," Press Attaché Matthew Lussenhop said.

Despite the abduction, Lussenhop assured the humanitarian mission and development projects of the US government in southern Philippines will not be affected.

"The US government will continue to work against lawlessness," he said.

Washington issued a travel advisory last Oct. 10 warning its nationals against traveling to Mindanao on the threat of terror attacks.

Lussenhop said the travel advisory will stay because of the kidnapping incident. — With Pia Lee-Brago, AFP