Officials said on Thursday that at least six armed men had abducted Ronaldo del Torchio, a former Catholic missionary, from his restaurant in the city of Dipolog in Zamboanga del Norte Province the night before.
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Malayo said the van was abandoned on Dipolog Boulevard.
No individual or group claimed responsibility for the latest kidnapping, but this occurred just as Philippine authorities were searching for Canadians John Ridsdel and Robert Hall; and Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad, and Filipina Maritess Flor who were taken by suspected Abu Sayyaf rebels from the upscale Holiday Oceanview Samal Resort on Samal Island off Davao del Norte province.
Hachuela said security cameras caught images of a few of the gunmen and that may help authorities identify them.
An undated photo of former Catholic priest, Italian Rolando del Torchio, who was abducted by armed men in Dipolog City on October 7, 2015.
Mongao said the Philippine Navy has deployed two light patrol boats to scour coastal areas of Zamboanga del Norte and Sulu. “That’s the pattern”, Captain Trinidad said.
Reports have since connected the incident to the al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf, which has carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortions since 1991 in a self-determined fight for an independent Islamic province in the Philippines.
“Four of the seven abductors even posed as customers and ordered food from the victim before their other companions barged in and dragged him to a waiting white van”, Hachuela said, citing the testimony of witnesses.
But Chief Supt. Miguel Antonio, regional police chief, said police suspected a local group was behind the abduction of Del Torchio.
Police said they have not discovered who is behind the latest kidnappings.
He helped farmers hone their skills and set up cooperatives in poor communities, according to a colleague, Fr. Gianni Re.
Rolando del Torchio, 56, was the fourth foreigner kidnapped in the region in three weeks, and brings to eight the number believed to be held by the Abu Sayyaf group, listed by the United States as a terrorist organization.
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The southern Philippines has been dealing with militancy for years.
