NORTH COTABATO (Mindanao Examiner / 06 Nov) - Masked gunmen seized two people working for a non-government organization in the troubled Mindanao province of North Cotabato, the official Philippine News Agency reported on Monday.
It said gunmen clad in camouflage uniform snatched the duo - Mary Bernadette Solitario, 21, and Lourelie Naiz, 22 - in Batang village in the town of Tulunan on Saturday.
No group claimed responsibility for the kidnappings, but the two, working for the Disaster Response Center (DIRECT) in Davao City, were on their way to investigate recent clashes between troops and communist insurgents.
The town's mayor, Nestor Taasan, has confirmed the kidnappings and said the duo had been taken by motorcycle gunmen, the report said.
"The workers were scheduled to monitor and evaluate last November 4 a DIRECT project in remote Barangay Batang where clashes between government troops and New People's Army rebels were going on when they were abducted," it said.
No group claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. The Interfaith Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights (IFAAPR), a local human rights group, has condemned the incident.
"Such matter is a clear manifestation of human rights violation," IFAAPR senior officer Pastor Ernesto Estrella said.
Solitario is a native of General Santos City while Naiz is from Kidapawan City, all in Mindanao. There were no immediate statements from the police and military about the kidnappings, but the town was the scene of clashes last week between government soldiers and insurgents, who raided a military detachment and carted 21 assorted weapons.
The province was also bombed twice last month by suspected Abu Sayyaf militants where six people had been killed and more than 40 others wounded. (Mindanao Examiner)
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