Kidnap threat at tourist hotspots

TERRORISTS are planning to kidnap foreigners in tourist hotspots across the central and western Philippines, Western governments said yesterday following a foiled abduction attempt by Islamic militants a month ago.

President Rodrigo Duterte said security had been increased on the western island of Palawan, one of the Philippines’ most popular tourist destinations, after the US embassy warned of a kidnapping threat there.

“The US Embassy has received credible information that terrorist groups may be planning to conduct kidnapping operations targeting foreign nationals in the areas of Palawan,” it said.

The embassy identified two locations – the capital city of Puerto Princesa and the nearby underground river that attracts thousands of visitors daily – as areas the kidnappers were targeting.

Puerto Princesa is about 400km northwest of southern islands that are strongholds of the Abu Sayyaf, militants who have pledged allegiance to the Islamic State group and often kidnap foreigners.

The Abu Sayyaf last month attempted a kidnapping raid on Bohol island, a popular tourist destination in the central Philippines, but were foiled after authorities became aware of the plot.

It has since its founding in the 1990s kidnapped dozens of foreigners and many more residents to extract ransoms. The militants typically raid coastal areas after sailing from their southern island strongholds on speedboats, although in recent years they have also attacked cargo and merchant ships.

They beheaded two Canadians last year and an elderly German sailor in February after ransom demands for millions of dollars were unmet.

Until recently, foreign governments had not warned of kidnapping threats in the central and western Philippines.

But fresh advisories from the Canadian and British embassies yesterday that backed up the US warning on Palawan also referred to tourist hotspots near Bohol, including Dumaguete, Siquijor and Cebu.