2 European photographers, guide snatched

ZAMBOANGA CITY: Gunmen seized two European wildlife photographers and their Filipino guide on Wednesday afternoon in the southern province of Tawi-tawi, police said.

Police said Ewold Horn, 52, from Holland; and Lorenzo Vinciguerre, 47, from Switzerland, and their guide Ivan Sadinas, 35, were abducted at gunpoint by five men in the coastal village of Parangan in Panglima Sugala town.

It said the foreigners, who arrived in the province a week ago, were taking photographs of wild birds on the town when gunmen seized them.

“They were abducted at about 1:50 in the afternoon. Ewold Horn, from Holland; his companion Lorenzo Vinciguerre, from Switzerland, and their Filipino guide Ivan Sadinas, from Davao City, were taken at gunpoint by five unidentified men armed with M16 rifles and .45 pis- tols. They escaped with the victims onboard two motorized boats,” said Senior Superintendent Rodelio Jocson, the provincial police chief.

He said police and military forces were deployed to track down the gunmen.

But the military’s Western Mindanao Command said another Filipino guide Nestor Cabaluas was also seized, but managed to escape.

No individual or group claimed responsibility for the abduction, but Abu Sayyaf militants are known to operate in the province where they kidnapped a Malaysian fish trader Pang Choon Pong in October last year and is still being held in captivity.

Abu Sayyaf militants also kidnapped two Malaysian seaweed farm workers Vui Chung, 42, and his cousin Lai Wing Chau, 33, in TawiTawi in February 2010 and were freed later in the same year after their families paid some 2 million ringgits.

The group tied to al-qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya had also kidnapped 21 mostly Western holidaymakers in Sabah’s resort island of Sipadan in 2001 and brought them by boat to the southern Philippines. The hostages were then ransomed off to Malaysia and Libya - which negotiated for their release - for millions of dollars.

The Abu Sayyaf is still holding another Malaysian lizard trader, a Japanese man, an Australian citizen and three Filipinos in the restive region.