Do Not Sensationalize News On British Man, Zamboanga Mayor Appeals

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / May 10, 2008) – Zamboanga City Mayor Celso Lobregat has appealed to the local press not to sensationalize the news on a British man who was reported missing here.

Lobregat’s appeal came after media reports suggested the disappearance of James David Rowe was related to kidnapping.

“Mayor Celso Lobregat yesterday appealed to the media not to blow up the story concerning the alleged missing British national suspecting it to be a case of a transaction that has gone sour,” a statement said.

Senior Superintendent Lurimer Detran, Zamboanga City police chief, told Lobregat that Rowe’s companion, Kung Kwan Kung, a Chinese national, reported that the Briton had been missing for two days already.

“Detran brought the complainant to Mayor Lobregat to explain the circumstances that led to the report on the missing British national, as media members try to pass the incident as a kidnapping case,” the statement said.

It said based on investigation, Rowe, who is residing in San Carlos City in Negros Occidental and Kung, of Paranaque City in Luzon, are partners in a business deal involving outboard engines.

Rowe was supposed to provide the engines amounting to P400, 000 that Kung paid to him earlier. The two were billeted at a local hotel but a day after they checked in, Rowe disappeared causing Kung to report the incident, it said.

“My appeal is to the media, please do not blow this up, this is probably a transaction that has gone sour. These two individuals have a business transaction that hash not pushed through,” Lobregat said.

Prior to his disappearance, Kung told the police that Rowe was asking about the fastest way to go to Cebu City near Negros province, which led authorities to suspect that the British man had flown out of Zamboanga.

Lobregat has ordered Detran to closely coordinate with the San Carlos City Police and agencies concerned to trace the whereabouts of the British national.

Detran said local investigators have coordinated with the San Carlos Police and are waiting for reports. “He vowed to look into the matter even if it is a case of a bitter transaction,” the statement said.

Philippine Police Tracks Down Missing Briton

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / May 10, 2008) – Philippine police have tracked down a British national who was reported missing in the southern port city of Zamboanga, officials said Saturday.

Police mounted a search Friday for James David Rowe after failing to return to his hotel. “He was tracked down in San Carlos City in Negros Occidental province,” said Senior Superintendent Laurimer Detran, chief of the Zamboanga City police force.

Negros province is near Cebu in central Philippines.

Local radio reports said Rowe went missing Thursday after he left the Amil Hotel with a Filipino man. A hotel clerk said they reported to the police that Rowe was missing, although his things are still in the room.

Detran said the foreigner fled to evade his Chinese business partner named Fong who was expecting the delivery of motorboat engines in Zamboanga City.

The engines, he said, were to be shipped to their owners in Tawi-Tawi province.

“From the reports we received, James Rowe owes his partner some four hundred thousand pesos and that he fled to San Carlos City where he has a Filipino girlfriend.”

“Our counterparts have made contact with Rowe, but police has nothing with him unless his partner, Mr. Fong, filed charges against the Briton to recover his money,” Detran told the Mindanao Examiner.

Police said it was Rowe’s partner who reported that he went missing after the foreigner failed to deliver the cargo. No other details were available about Rowe.

Mayor Celso Lobregat has ordered the police to search for Rowe after hearing radio reports. His spokesperson, Sheila Covarrubias, said Rowe is engage in buying and selling of automotive spare parts and authorities were investigating whether his business has anything to do with his disappearance.

The United States and Australia last month warned their citizens not to travel to Zamboanga City because extremists could be planning to kidnap Americans or other foreigners at hotels or other public places in Zamboanga City.

Zamboanga had been targeted in the past by Abu Sayyaf militants whose group is tied to al-Qaeda terror network.Two homemade bombs exploded in Zamboanga City a week after the US and Australian issued the warnings. (Mindanao Examiner)

Cops Search For Missing Briton In South RP

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / May 09, 2008) – Police mounted a search Friday for a British national who was reported missing while visiting the southern port city of Zamboanga, reports said.

Local radio reports said James David Rowe was missing since Thursday after he failed to return to his hotel in downtown Zamboanga. Rowe checked in at the Amil Hotel and left with a Filipino man, the Radio Agong reported.

“The foreigner left with a Filipino man and never returned. We reported the matter to the police. We don’t know what happened to him. His things are all inside the room,” a woman at the hotel’s front desk told the Mindanao Examiner.

She said Rowe was alone when he checked in at the hotel, but refused to elaborate further, saying, she is not authorized to talk about it.

Mayor Celso Lobregat has ordered the police to search for the missing foreigner, his spokesperson, Sheila Covarrubias, said. “Police is doing all it can to locate the foreigner,” she said in a separate interview.

Initial police reports, she said, showed that Rowe is engage in buying and selling of automotive spare parts and authorities are investigating whether his business has anything to do with his disappearance.

“At this time, we still do not know what really happened. We can only speculate,” Covarrubias said.

The United States Embassy last month said it received information that extremists may be planning to kidnap Americans or other foreigners at hotels or other public places in Zamboanga City.

It warned Americans not to travel to Zamboanga which had been targeted in the past by Abu Sayyaf militants whose group is tied to al-Qaeda terror network.

Australia also issued a similar warning last month and told its citizens not to travel to Zamboanga and other areas in the southern region. Two homemade bombs exploded in Zamboanga City a week after the US and Australian warnings. (Mindanao Examiner)