German tourist abducted in South RP

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 21, 2010) – A German tourist who was to see his Filipino fiancée was reported to have been abducted in Davao City in the southern Philippines, authorities said Monday.

Authorities said Fier Medricat, whose father is living with another Filipino woman in Davao City, was taken on Sunday by two men in Toril, a village where communist rebels are actively operating.

Medricat’s girlfriend told police that the foreigner sent her an SMS to say that he was taken by two men who said they were members of the communist New People’s Army rebels. He said the men also took his money worth over P400,000.

The woman, niece of the Filipino wife of Medricat’s father, reported the matter to the authorities.

She said Medricat was supposed to meet her on Saturday in the village, but the foreigner told her that he was lost in Toril and stayed with a woman in the village whom he identified only as Mama.

Government troops also launched an operation to help the police in their investigation into the reported abduction.

“Soldiers from the 69th Infantry Battalion mounted a complimentary operation in Toril to help police investigating the reported abduction of Fier Medricat,” said Army Captain Emmanuel Garcia, a spokesman for the 10th Infantry Division.

Garcia would not say if rebels were really involved in the abduction, although the New People’s Army is not known to target foreigners for ransom, but had warned it would attack US troops deployed in the restive region to help local soldiers defeat communist insurgents.

Gangsters and criminals had in the past posed as communist rebels to extort money from traders in the southern Philippines. The NPA is the armed wing of the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines which is waging a secessionist war the past four decades. (Mindanao Examiner)

German Journalist, Nagsagawa Ng Peace Seminar Sa Bansa

BACOLOD (Mindanao Examiner / 19 Jun) – Muling naglunsad na naman ng peace journalism seminar sa mga Pinoy reporters ang tanyag na German video-journalist na si Antonia Koop.

Si Koop ang pinuno at isa sa mga founder ng international organization na PECOJON o Peace and Conflict Journalism Network na ang layunin ay makatulong sa mga mamamahayag sa buong mundo sa responsableng paguulat.

Sa Cebu isinagawa ang tatlong araw na seminar na dinaluhan ng ilang dosenang reporters mula sa Mindanao, Visayas at Luzon. Libre ang seminar dahil suportado rin ito ng InWent, isang malaking organisasyon sa Germany.

Huling nagsagawa ng seminar sa Zamboanga City si Koop nitong taon lamang sa kabila ng travel advisory ng mga ibat-ibang embahada sa bansa.Matagal na nag-cover si Koop sa magulong bansa ng Israel at Palestinian. (Mindanao Examiner)

Two Germans End Life In Philippines

DIPOLOG CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 08 Jun) – Philippine police is investigating the death of a German national whose body was found inside his car in the southern city of Dipolog.

Police said Reiner Herman Paul Korneg, from Berlin, was discovered dead at the weekend at the garage of his house in Dipolog City.

Investigators said the foreigner probably died from carbon monoxide poisoning after they found a hose in the car’s ventilation connected to the muffler.

The 58-year old Korneg, whose Filipino wife, Betty, died two months ago, appeared to have committed suicide, police said.

A second German national, Hans Peter Seiler, was also found dead this week inside their house in Manila and police said the 63-year old pensioner killed himself. Seiler was found dead with a bullet wound to his head by his Filipino wife, Maria, police said. (Mindanao Examiner)

German National Wounded In Philippine Attack

MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / 06 Jun) – Unidentified motorcycle gunmen shot and wounded a German national in broad daylight attack Wednesday in the Philippine capital, police said.

Police said Michael Heinen, 63, was onboard the family van driven by his adopted Filipino son, when gunmen attacked them.

The assailants fled after the gunshots drew public attention. Heinen’s son, Julius Balas, rushed the German to the hospital.

The victim’s condition is still unknown. Policemen did not give additional details of their investigations and the motive in the attack is still unknown.

Little was known about the German or his business in the Philippines.

Last week, a German national, Thomas Wallraf and his three Filipino companions, were kidnapped by former Moro National Liberation Front rebels in North Cotabato province in the southern Mindanao region.

Wallraf’s group was later freed unharmed after another rebel group, the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front, threatened to kill the kidnappers and their families if they will not release the hostages. (Mindanao Examiner)

Muslim Rebels Praised For Rescue Of German National, 3 Others In South RP

GRP-MILF AHJAG team lawyer Abdul Dataya turns-over kidnapped victims to Philippine Marines Maj.Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino at the International Monitoring Team Headquarters in Cotabato City in Maguindanao province. The four kidnapped victims - Thomas Wallraf, from Cologne, Germany and his wife, May Sharon and two others - Diego Daniel, their driver; and Consuelo San Juan, a family friend – have been handed by the Moro Islamic Liberations rebels to Malaysian truce observers and the Philippine military in Cotabato City in Maguindanao province on Friday, 01 June 2007. Also in the photos are Philippine Army’s 7th Infantry Battalion commander Lt.Col.Dickson Hermoso, Police Region 12 Director, Chief Supt.Felizardo Serapio Jr.and Head of Mission International Monitoring Team Maj.Gen.Dato Ismail Bin Abbas.

(Mindanao Examiner Photos/Mark Navales)

COTABATO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 01 June) – Philippine Muslim rebels handed over Friday a rescued German national and three other Filipinos kidnapped by bandits in the southern province of North Cotabato, security officials said.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is negotiating peace with Manila, rescued the four hours after they were seized while traveling in Pikit town on Thursday.

The four - Thomas Wallraf, from Cologne, Germany and his wife, May Sharon and two others - Diego Daniel, their driver; and Consuelo San Juan, a family friend – have been handed to Malaysian truce observers and the Philippine military in Cotabato City in Maguindanao province.

Marine Maj. Gen. Mohammad Dolorfino, chairman of the government Ad hoc Joint Action Group, said the four were on their to Manila. “The release of the four is the result of a good coordination between the MILF and the Philippine military,” he told the independent regional newspaper, the Mindanao Examiner.

“The MILF is able to react immediately and rebel forces sealed off the area where the abductors are holding the four victims and recovered them safely,” he said.

Gunmen were forced to release the four to the MILF in the village of Balongis in Pikit town after rebel forces surrounded their hideout and threatened to kill the kidnappers.

The release of the hostages previously reported as all Caucasians came hours after the rebel group, backed by security forces, mounted a massive rescue operation.

The four were heading to North Cotabato from Davao City onboard a van when gunmen flagged down their vehicle. The MILF has in the past helped the government rescue kidnapped foreigners and Filipinos in Mindanao.

The abductions coincided with the start of the ten-day joint amphibious war games between the Philippines and the United States. But security officials said it was not connected with the ongoing war games off the southern region. (Juley Reyes and Mark Navales)