Priest killed in kidnap try

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Hooded gunmen shot a priest and kidnapped a teacher in a remote town in Tawi-Tawi late Tuesday.

Police said Fr. Rey Roda was shot dead by the gunmen as he resisted their attempted abduction. But the gunmen succeeded in snatching Omar Taub, a teacher of Notre Dame school.

Roda, of the Oblate of Mary Immaculate (OMI) congregation, was praying inside a chapel of Notre Dame school in Tabawan when the gunmen barged in and tried to snatch the priest.

Roda was later shot dead as the gunmen exchanged fire with police who tried to rescue Taub, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) police director Chief Superintendent Joel Goltiao said.

“The reports indicated that Father Roda resisted and he was gunned down and killed,” Goltiao said.

According to Goltiao, Roda had prevented the gunmen from looting the convent.

The attackers brought Roda to a speedboat about a kilometer from the school when policemen caught up with them and engaged them in an hour-long gunfight, Goltiao said.

“Before the encounter, a gunshot was heard. Father Roda’s body was found bathed in his own blood. He died on the spot,” he said.

The gunmen, numbering around 10, escaped with Taub as soldiers and police launched a manhunt to free the hostage, Goltiao said.

Goltiao said they are still verifying whether the Abu Sayyaf is behind the kidnapping.

“The suspects were wearing bonnets to conceal their identities,” he said.

Goltiao suspected robbers may have carried out the kidnapping as they were behind a series of computer thefts at the school where Roda stayed.

Naval Forces Western Mindanao Command chief Rear Admiral Emilio Marayag added the military is also checking if the Abu Sayyaf was involved.

“We have yet to establish the facts surrounding the attempted kidnapping. But the motive of the incident was most likely robbery because there is an ongoing construction in the area,” Marayag said.

But the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said in a statement that Roda had received death threats from the Abu Sayyaf, which has gained notoriety for bomb attacks, kidnappings and hostage beheadings.

Priests and missionaries have often been the target of the extremist group.

Roda, 55, served as a missionary in the area for 10 years and worked as the school’s education director.

Fr. Rito Daquipil, Roda’s associate in OMI assigned to nearby Bonggao town, said they were able to talk to some witnesses who revealed the kidnappers tied the arms of the hostages and dragged them outside the chapel.

“He (Roda) resisted, so the incident called the attention of residents near the chapel. When other people responded, they said they just heard a series of gunshots and saw Father Rey lying on the ground,” Daquipil said.

Daquipil, however, said they still have no clue as to the real motive of the killing and kidnapping.

“We don’t know yet the motive. But we heard that they took another faculty, Omar Taub, and we don’t know yet where they took him,” he said.

Daquipil claimed witnesses saw Roda being dragged by the gunmen before they shot him as they reached the basketball court in front of the chapel.

“One of the suspects pulled a hand gun and shot him in the head,” he said.

OMI head Ramon Bernabe said Roda was the third Catholic missionary killed in Mindanao in recent years.

Last year, gunmen held for a month Italian priest Giancarlo Bossi in Basilan before he was released unharmed. Police denied a ransom was paid.

The military immediately launched massive pursuit operations against the suspects, who are believed to have escaped to one of the islands in Tawi-Tawi.

Marayag said a naval boat from Bonggao has been dispatched to ferry the remains of Roda.

“Pursuit operation is ongoing right now. If we can trace the suspects to one of the islands of the province, a naval blockade would be established to prevent the suspects from escaping,” Marayag said.

Marine forces under the Naval Task Force 62 have been mobilized to track down the suspects.

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said they will help the police in tracking down the killers.

“I have already instructed our Zamboanga Regional Office acting Regional Director Primo Aureliado to send three agents to Tawi-Tawi to investigate the alleged attempt to abduct Fr. Roda,” NBI Deputy Director Reynaldo Esmeralda said.

Condemnation

CBCP president Archbishop Angel Lagdameo led the faithful in condemning the killing.

“We condemn this violence and pray for just solution,” Lagdameo said.

Archbishop Orlando Quevedo also condemned the killing and said Roda’s death is a loss to the campaign to bring peace to remote areas of the archipelago.

Roda’s fellow priest, Jonathan Domingo, described the slain missionary as a “vocal advocate against terrorism and graft and corruption in the province.”

Roda always championed the cause of the poor, he said.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is engaged in peace talks with the government, also denounced the raid.

“We condemn this killing in the strongest possible terms and the killers deserve hell for their barbaric act,” said Sheik Mohammad Muntassir, MILF religious committee chief.

ARMM officials, many of them former students of schools owned by the OMI, also condemned the bungled kidnapping attempt.

ARMM Gov. Datu Zaldy Ampatuan said the killing of Roda was a “high form of Satanism” and an affront to Islam and Christianity.

“It is so sad for a known peace advocate, as Fr. Roda was, to perish like that, in the hands of people who do not fear God,” Ampatuan said.

Ampatuan urged Tawi-Tawi Gov. Sadikul Sahali to exert his influence and authority in helping the police track down the suspects.

ARMM Speaker Paisalin Tago said he has tasked his three constituent-legislators in Tawi-Tawi to help authorities locate the gunmen.

Cotabato City Mayor Muslim Sema, secretary-general of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), also condemned the killing of Roda, calling it a total disrespect for the sanctity of life.

“We have very high regard and respect for religious leaders and preachers in other sects because that was taught to all Muslims by Prophet Mohammad, who had exemplified how it was to peacefully co-exist with people of other religious denominations when he was alive,” Sema said.

Many of Roda’s companions in the OMI, said Father Bert Layson, director of the congregation’s Interfaith Dialogue Initiatives, are actively involved in the ongoing peace talks between the government and the MILF. - With John Unson, Edu Punay, Evelyn Macairan, AP