An ailing 79-year-old Wexford missionary dragged away at gunpoint from his southern Philippine residence is probably in the hands of Muslim militants seeking a ransom, officials said today.The Rev Michael Sinnott was inside the Columban House compound in Pagadian city in Zamboanga del Sur province late last night when a man knocked on the door asking for a priest. When a member of staff opened it, gunmen barged in and grabbed Fr Sinnott, a fellow Irish priest rold breakingnews.ie. “He left everything – his glasses, his cell phone, his medicine,” the Rev Damien McKenna said.
The stunned missionaries could not do anything “because the abductors had powerful weapons”, said regional police commander Angelo Sunglao. No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping, but suspicion fell on Muslim guerrillas who have been fighting for a separate homeland in the predominantly Catholic country’s south for decades and have in the past kidnapped foreigners, including priests.
The abductors took Fr Sinnott away by sea, Mr Sunglao said, citing fishermen in the area. The van used to take him from the house to shore was later found abandoned and burned near the Catholic mission.
