Chinese teen kidnapped in Zamboanga Sibugay

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – A Chinese teenager was kidnapped by four men in Zamboanga Sibugay Thursday night, police officials said yesterday.

The unidentified men seized Li Pei Zhel, 18, who manages the Kabasalan Sales Center in Kabasalan town, according to Senior Superintendent Jose Bayani Gucela, spokesman for Police Regional Office 9.

He said initial investigation showed that the armed men barged into the store at around 6 a.m. and dragged the victim toward a multicab van with plate number JBH-58.

The vehicle sped toward the shoreline of Sitio Mangahas in Barangay Timuay Danda, where the gunmen transferred their captive to a motorized pump boat.

Senior Inspector Leo Castillo said pursuing policemen found the kidnappers’ burning vehicle in a village about two kilometers away.

He said police, backed by Army soldiers, set up roadblocks and launched coastal patrols.

Kabasalan Mayor George Cainglet, who immediately convened the town’s crisis management committee, said Abu Sayyaf militants, who kidnapped Australian Warren Rodwell in 2011, could have been involved in the kidnapping.

He said no ransom demand had been made. – With AP