Father Michael Sinnott, an elderly Irish missionary was kidnapped by six armed men who burst into his home at the Missionary Society of St Columban compound in Pagadian City, Zamboanga on Sunday.
Michael Sinnott, 78, was taking an evening stroll in his convent’s garden, when six gunmen entered into the property and dragged the priest into a van in front of his horrified aides, according to Chief Superintendent Angelo Sunglao, police commander of Zamboanga del Sur province.
The kidnappers took the priest down to the shore where fishermen told police they saw him being bundled onto a motorboat seen heading in the direction of a town called Tukaran. The van was later found abandoned and burned near the convent.
Police have been dispatched to pursue the kidnappers and rescue the Irish priest.
No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping but immediate suspicion fell on the Abu Sayyaf group of al-Queda linked militants who use kidnappings to help finance their battle for a separatist Moslem homeland in Southern Philippines.
Mr Sinnott’s group, the Missionary Society of St Columban, appealed for prayers for his safe recovery.
Sinnott has worked in the Philippines for decades. The group said he has been involved in a school for handicapped children since 1998.
