MANILA, Philippines (AP) Gunmen abducted two teachers belonging to a Catholic charity group that helps poor children in the southern Philippines and army special forces are searching for them, military officials said Thursday.
Army. Col. Carlito Galvez said Frederick Banot and Cherden Masong were abducted late Wednesday from their house and taken away on a speedboat by men armed with rifles in remote Lantawan town on the island province of Basilan.
The two men belong to Charity Children Foundation, a private group that helps tribal children in Basilan, a predominantly Muslim province about 880 kilometers (550 miles) south of Manila. They were sleeping when the gunmen barged into their house and dragged them away, regional army spokesman Capt. Jefferson Somera said.
It was not immediately clear which group staged the abductions, he said.
The al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group has been blamed for many ransom kidnappings in Basilan but other gangs have emerged in recent years. Abductions have also been staged due to clan feuds.
