Parents ask help to find missing teen

MANILA, Philippines - The parents of a 17-year-old British national asked President Arroyo to help them locate their son, who has been missing since Jan. 22.

British businessman David Woodhead said their efforts to find their son, Marc, have not been successful.

“My wife and I wish to appeal to President Arroyo to use her power to order the Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronnie Puno to undertake a search for our son Marc, who has been missing for the past 18 days,” said the elder Woodhead during a press conference at the Philippine National Police press office.

“We are increasingly concerned for the whereabouts of our son…Local police believe Marc may have been abducted,” said Woodhead. “Marc has never stayed away from home and he is not familiar with going outside the Makati area.”

On Jan. 22, Woodhead said his son was supposed to walk to his office in Makati but since he had a meeting, he thought Marc stayed home. He said Marc has no debit or credit cards.

“His mom thought he had left the home to go to my office. It was lunchtime before we realized that Marc was not at home nor at work. We initially thought he was with his friends. The next day, we filed a missing person report to the Makati police,” he said. – Cecille Suerte Felipe