An American was reportedly kidnapped from a southern Philippine town and
a search is underway
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[October 18, 2024]
By JIM GOMEZ
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The Philippine police said Friday it has
launched a search after gunmen reportedly abducted an American national,
who was shot in the leg as he tried to resist before being spirited away
from a southern Philippine coastal town by speedboat.
If confirmed to be a case of kidnapping for ransom, it would be the
latest reminder of the long-running security problems that have hounded
the southern Philippines, the homeland of a Muslim minority in the
largely Roman Catholic nation.
Police in Sibuco town in the southern province of Zamboanga del Norte
tried to pursue the suspected abductors and their victim, who they
identified as Elliot Onil Eastman, 26, from Vermont, after the reported
abduction on Thursday night.
"We confirm that there was a report of the alleged abduction of an
American national,” the regional police said in a statement. “We want to
assure the public, particularly the community of Sibuco, that we are
doing everything in our power to secure the safe recovery of the
victim.”
The police asked the public to immediately provide any information that
could help an ongoing investigation of the reported abduction.
Two police reports seen by The Associated Press said that a resident of
Sibuco, Abdulmali Hamsiran Jala, reported to police that four men in
black clothing who were armed with M16 rifles and introduced themselves
as police officers forcibly took Eastman, who tried to escape.
One of the gunmen shot Eastman in the leg before dragging him into a
speedboat then fled by sea further south toward the provinces of Basilan
or Sulu, the police reports said.
Policemen chased but failed to find the gunmen and Eastman and alerted
other police and Philippine marine units in the region, according to the
reports.
Philippine authorities did not immediately provide background details of
Eastman, but a person with a similar name has posted pictures and videos
of himself on Facebook saying he had married a Muslim woman in Sibuco.
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In this photo provided by the Philippine National Police Regional
Office 9, a policeman checks an area Friday Oct. 18, 2024, where an
American identified as Elliot Onil Eastman, from Vermont, was
reportedly abducted by gunmen in Sibuco town, Zamboanga del Norte
province, southern Philippines. (Philippine National Police Regional
Office 9 via AP)
The U.S. Embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to questions
about the reported abduction.
The southern Philippines has bountiful resources but has long been
hamstrung by stark poverty and an array of insurgents and outlaws.
A 2014 peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic
Liberation Front, the largest of several Muslim separatist groups,
has considerably eased widespread fighting in the south. Relentless
military offensives have weakened smaller armed groups like the
notoriously violent Abu Sayyaf group over the years, considerably
reducing kidnappings, bombings and other attacks.
The Abu Sayyaf group, which is listed as a terrorist organization by
the United States and the Philippines, is an offshoot of
decades-long Muslim separatist unrest in the south and carried out
mass kidnappings for ransom, beheadings and bombings more than two
decades ago in the southern region.
They targeted American and other Western tourists and religious
missionaries, most of whom were freed after ransoms were paid. A few
were killed, including an American who was beheaded on the island
province of Basilan and a U.S. missionary who was killed while
Philippine army forces were trying to rescue him and his wife in
2002 in a rainforest in Sirawai town near Sibuco.
The Philippines will hold mid-term elections next year for more than
18,000 local, national and congressional posts, mostly provincial
mayors and governors. In the traditionally volatile south, crimes
including kidnappings and extortion have traditionally spiked as
rogue politicians try to raise funds to fuel their campaigns ahead
of elections in the past but only a few and isolated incidents have
been reported in recent years, according to authorities.
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