Peace Corps member missing

Authorities have intensified the search for US Peace Corps volunteer Julia Campbell, who has been reported missing for nearly a week in Ifugao province.

US Embassy Press Attache Matthew Lussenhop said security officials of the embassy and Peace Corps are right now in the region looking for her or people who might know where she is.

He said the embassy is seeking information on the welfare and whereabouts of Campbell, who has been missing since April 8, and is offering a reward for such information. The embassy did not specify any amount.

Campbell began her Peace Corps service in the Philippines in March 2005

Troops from the Army’s 5th Infantry Division based in Isabela have joined the search.

Major Gen. Rodrigo Maclang said his men stationed in the area are also conducting coordinated efforts in the massive search for Campbell, who reportedly arrived on board a passenger bus in Banaue from Manila on April 7 for a two-day vacation.

According to the reports he received, from the bus stop, she was seen boarding a tricycle for Barangay Batad.

Maclang said Campbell even contacted a masseuse to proceed to her rented room in Batad, where she reportedly planned to stay overnight.

The masseuse, it was learned, could not locate the American woman when she went there at around 6:30 p.m. the same day.

Maclang said Campbell was to go back to Manila on April 9 based on her reservation records at the Auto Bus terminal in Banaue for a scheduled flight to the US the following day, April 10.

Authorities said they have yet to receive any word from the American national since her reported disappearance.

Maclang declined to speculate whether Campbell was kidnapped or victimized by criminal elements.

Cordillera police director Chief Superintendent Raul Gonzales had ordered the Ifugao police command to organize and dispatch a task force to search for Campbell, said Superintendent Joseph Adnol, spokesman of the Cordillera police command based at Camp Dangwa in La Trinidad, Benguet.

The Cordillera police office said in a report that they have dispatched four composite teams to search for the Peace Corps volunteer.

According to Lussenhop, Campbell, who once served as a college teacher in Legazpi City, intended to hike in a hilly area near Batad, 1.5 kilometers east of Banaue town.

"Anyone who has seen Ms. Campbell anytime after April 8, or who may have information on her movements or current location, should call Mr. John Borja, safety and security officer of the Peace Corps-Philippines at 0920-900-5270, or contact the US Embassy in Manila at (02)-528-6300," the embassy said.

In Batad, villagers reportedly saw a female foreigner about five feet and two inches tall. Local officials said news of the missing foreigner has pre-occupied the villagers.

But on the website of the US Embassy, Campbell was described as a 40-year-old Caucasian American with blonde hair, wears eyeglasses, is 5’7" tall and weighs 58 kilograms.

She was alone when she was last seen.

Lussenhop said there are currently 137 Peace Corps volunteers serving in the Philippines.

More than 8,000 volunteers have served in the Philippines since 1961, making it the second oldest Peace Corps program in the world.

In 1990, the NPA seized Peace Corps volunteer Timothy Swanson and held him for 50 days in Negros. He was released unharmed to the Red Cross after the late Bishop Antonio Fortich helped negotiate his release. – Pia Lee-Brago, James Mananghaya, Artemio Dumlao and Charlie Lagasca