Former Italian missionary kidnapped in Philippines; ransom seen as likely motive
October 08, 2015
Government forces in the Philippines are searching for a former Catholic missionary who was kidnapped at gunpoint.
Rolando Del Tochio, who had been working as a PIME missionary but remained in the Philippines to operate a restaurant in Dipolog, was seized by six men who threw him in a van and escaped by boat.
The kidnapping—which followed shortly after the abductions of a Norwegian man and a Filipino woman in the same region—was likely done for money, a former PIME missionary colleague told the Fides news service. Father Sebastian D’Ambra said: “In most cases, the goal is ransom.”
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Further information:
- Philippine forces mount massive search for abducted Italian (AP)
- A missionary: "The Italian Del Torchio kidnapped for money" (Fides)
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