Abducted German tourist freed in the Philippines

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 10, 2010) – A German tourist who was reported abducted in the southern Philippines had allegedly contacted his family to say that he was released by his captors, an army spokesman said Sunday.

Authorities have reported that Fier Medricat, whose father is living with a Filipino woman in Davao City, was taken by two armed on June 20 in Davao City’s Toril district.

Captain Emmanuel Garcia, of the 10th Infantry Division, said the German went to the village to visit his Filipino girlfriend, but got lost on his way and stayed in a house of a local villager.

Medricat’s girlfriend later 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, who also took his money worth over P400,000.

Government troops also launched an operation to help the police in their investigation into the reported abduction. But Garcia said the foreigner’s family reported that Medricat was released and that he is now in Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur province.

“Police is investigating this case – whether Medricat was really freed or if he was really abducted or not, and if this has to do with family matters,” Garcia said without further elaborating.

Garcia would not say if rebels were 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)