Filipino-Chinese matriarch kidnapped in Cotabato City

COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 8, 2010) – Gunmen seized a Filipino-Chinese matriarch after killing her two escorts in an attack Friday in Cotabato City in the southern Philippines, reports said.

Reports said the 73-year old Conchita Tan was taken away after gunmen smashed the window of her car and forcibly dragged her to a vehicle tailing them. Her husband was left behind unharmed, but two of their escorts were shot dead in a brief firefight.

ABS-CBN television reported that the get-away car was recovered by security forces and that a rocket-propelled grenade had been left behind by the kidnappers. The woman and her husband were on their way home from the store when gunmen attacked them.

No individual or group claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of Tan, who owns a hardware store in Cotabato City, but rebel groups and criminal gangs are actively operating in the area. (Mindanao Examiner)