Ex-mayor of Suriago Sur town kidnapped—police

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TAGUM CITY, Philippines—Armed men in civilian clothes has kidnapped the former mayor of Carrascal, Surigao del Sur, police authorities said Tuesday.

Superintendent Martin Gamba, spokesperson of the Caraga police, said Victor Tan, 67, was snatched while supervising a construction project in Barangay Zone 3 in Lanuza town, also in Surigao del Sur, around 9 a.m. Monday.

He said the Carrascal Integrated Enterprise, which the former mayor manages, is constructing bridges in Lanuza.

“According to his personal driver, the victim was forcibly taken by more or less eight armed persons in civilian attire and was brought to a mountainous part of the town,” he said.

Gamba said the police could not say yet what group was behind Tan’s abduction.

It was the second time Tan had been kidnapped.

While serving as Carrascal mayor in 1997, he was also snatched by New People’s Army rebels as he visited his company’s construction site in Lianga, also in Surigao del Sur.

The rebels eventually released Tan after holding him in captivity for several months.

“We are still investigating who the kidnappers are this time, and their possible motive,” Gamba said.

He said authorities also launched an operation to possibly rescue Tan.