Aussie security experts lend hand in compatriot's kidnap

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Australian security experts have arrived here to help police recover a compatriot who was kidnapped by armed men suspected to be Abu Sayyaf militants in Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay last Monday, security sources said yesterday.

The security experts met on Tuesday night with Senior Superintendent Ruben Cariaga, police director of Zamboanga Sibugay, to discuss the kidnapping of 56-year-old Warren Richard Rodwell.

A crisis management committee (CMC) has been formed to handle the kidnapping, Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr. said yesterday.

Cruz, however, said there is still no information on the identities of Rodwell’s captors in the absence of any ransom demand.

“We were informed that the information must only come from the CMC, which is part of the standard operating procedure in every case of kidnapping,” Cruz told the weekly Communication and News Exchange Forum sponsored by the Philippine Information Agency.

Lt. Col. Randolf Cabangbang, spokesman of the Armed Forces’ Western Mindanao Command, said the CMC is chaired by Ipil Mayor Aldwin Alibutdan and composed of Col. Gerry Barreintos, chief of the Army’s 102nd Infantry Brigade, and Cariaga.

Cruz, meanwhile, clarified that there was no news blackout in the case, saying the CMC “is just following the procedure regarding kidnapping for ransom cases.”

Earlier, PNP chief Director General Nicanor Bartolome said Rodwell’s kidnapping was an “isolated case.” 

While refusing to comment on travel advisories, Bartolome assured the public that the government, particularly the PNP, is doing its best to address peace and order issues in the country, especially in Mindanao.

“I don’t like to initially issue a statement as far as travel advisories are concerned. Suffice it to say that we are doing our best, especially in the southern part of the country, and this is isolated and should not (be a) cause for alarm,” Bartolome said.

Police said they found bloodstains on the floor of Rodwell’s house at Green Meadows Subdivision in Barangay Pangi, Ipil town. One of the doors was destroyed, too, indicating forcible entry, they added.

The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group-Region 9 is conducting a separate investigation into the kidnapping to determine its perpetrators.

Senior Superintendent Generoso Bonifacio, CIDG-Region 9 chief, said though they have not met with the Australian security experts.

Chief Superintendent Elpedio de Asis, Region 9 police director, earlier said they were not discounting the possibility that the Abu Sayyaf could be behind Rodwell’s kidnapping, adding that the manner by which he was seized was similar to that in two previous cases in Zamboanga Sibugay.

He was referring to the kidnapping of Luisa Galvez Morrison, a businesswoman who is married to a Briton, also in Ipil town last September, and Monaliza Capa, a gas station owner snatched in Pitogo town last October. Both victims were brought to Basilan and were freed after ransom was paid.

Rodwell is married to a Zamboanga Sibugay woman, Mariflor Gutang, 27, whom he met on the Internet. The couple has been living in the subdivision for about six months.

Bartolome said joint police and military troops were pursuing the kidnappers. 

“Operations are still ongoing. We will update you of developments as soon as we get the latest from the field,” he said.

Gutang appealed to her husband’s kidnappers to release him, saying he is ill and may not be able to cope with the harsh environment.

Gutang told police authorities that they did not notice the presence of any suspicious persons in their subdivision prior to the kidnapping.

She added they had not received any threat or had been warned by Ipil authorities about their security, except that their subdivision had no security personnel.– With Cecille Suerte Felipe