Fil-Chinese student abducted in Zambo

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - Unidentified gunmen abducted a Filipino-Chinese college student Thursday night in a village of Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur, a security official said.

Chief Inspector Ariel Huesca, spokesman of Police Regional Office 9 (PRO), identified the victim as Stephen Mago Tan, 19, a resident of Barangay Manga, Pagadian City  and a civil engineering student of Southern Mindanao College (SMC) based in the city.

Huesca said responding police forces from Pagadian City Police Station disclosed that the undetermined number of gunmen seized Tan about 9:30 p.m. along Cabrera St., just in front of Philhealth office at Barangay Gatas District.

Witnesses told police the suspects dragged the victim at gunpoint into a getaway sports utility vehicle colored gray with plate number KJS 723 and sped off toward unknown direction.

Huesca said local police are trying to track the identities of the suspects to locate their whereabouts and to rescue the victim.

Police said Tan is the 11th victim of cases in Western Mindanao and the third victim seized in Zamboanga del Sur following the abduction of couple Rudy and Tessie Luna, who are both school officials, in Kumalarang town on January 27.

Police and military have yet to recover two kidnap victims – a public school teacher and a young entrepreneur – in this city while six other victims were believed to have remained captive in Sulu.

According to Huesca, Tan's family has yet to be contacted by the abductors.