Loss of contact with Vagni worries Red Cross

MANILA, Philippines - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has expressed concern over its Italian worker Eugenio Vagni, who has been held captive by Abu Sayyaf bandits for more than five months now.

Alain Aeschlimann, ICRC head of operations for East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific, said his office has not made any contact with Vagni since June 2 and the last time he was able to call his wife was on June 12.

“As ever, we’re very worried about Eugenio. We hope we will hear from him soon and that he’s okay,” he said in a statement posted at the ICRC website.

 Aeschlimann claimed that news about gun battles between government troops and Abu Sayyaf bandits always leave them worried about Vagni’s safety.

“And of course we’re concerned about the fate of any civilians in the area who are affected by the fighting. Our concern also extends to the people who are working to bring about Eugenio’s release. We regret the loss of civilian life and express our sympathies to the families of those killed in the line of duty,” he added.

He admitted the abduction has kept “Eugenio’s family, his friends and the ICRC under immense pressure over the past five months and they (hope) that he would be freed soon.”

“None of us will be able to rest until then... We emphasize once again that Eugenio’s safety is our primary concern,” he said.

 Aeschlimann added that “anything we do in the Philippines has the bitter taste” of the still unresolved abduction of Vagni.

“For the past 150 years, the ICRC’s job has been to assist the victims of war across the globe. Eugenio went to the Philippines to work in the spirit of Henry Dunant. It hurts to see people who respond to crisis with purely humanitarian intentions becoming the victims,” he claimed, referring to the founder of the Red Cross.

The ICRC reiterated its appeal to Vagni’s abductors to release him “safe and sound, immediately and unconditionally.” – Sheila Crisostomo