A Wiki map of Lanao del Norte province in the southern Philippines, where bandits raided two villages on Tuesday, June 17, 2008 and seized at least two dozen people.

PAGADIAN CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 17, 2008) – Filipino bandits raided Tuesday two remote villages and seized at least two dozen people in the southern province of Lanao del Norte, authorities said.

Authorities said at least 15 gunmen swooped down on the villages of San Roque and Kulasihan in the town of Kolambugan at around 6.30 a.m. and seized the victims.

The gunmen were believed to be members of the so-called Tonda Force, a group blamed by police and military to the series of cattle rustling and extortion in the province. Little was known about the group or whether it has links with the Abu Sayyaf or the larger Moro Islamic Liberation Front which is also active in the area.

Other reports said the gunmen also seized several teachers and students at a government school in San Roque.

Security forces were tracking down the raiders and their victims. Police and military gave conflicting number of hostages, but one army intelligence report passed to the Mindanao Examiner said at least 23 members of three families were taken and another report claimed up to a dozen teachers had been abducted.

The motive of the abduction is still unknown.

The Abu Sayyaf is also holding three people since June 8 in the southern island of Sulu and has threatened to behead them if their families fail to pay P15 million ransoms for the safe release of ABS-CBN television presenter Ces Drilon, her cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion and Mindanao State University Professor Octavio Dinampo.

Another cameraman Angelo Valderama was freed June 12 after negotiators reportedly paid P5 million ransom. (Mindanao Examiner)