8 Butuan DENR men abducted

10/22/2009

Unidentified armed men yesterday abducted eight government personnel manning a checkpoint put up by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) in Butuan City.

Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) chief Lt. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer said seven fully-armed men swooped down on DENR checkpoint at around 1 a.m. of Wednesday in Bgy. Anticala in Butuan City and took the eight DENR and local government personnel manning the station.

Ferrer also said the armed group also took with them the pick-up truck detailed at the checkpoint located near the Taguibo watershed area.

Police and military units have been dispatched to find the missing men.

Reports identified the abducted persons as Gabriel Arlan, team leader of the DENR checkpoint, Teufredo Pujadas, Emiliano Gatillo Jr., Rito Espenido, Rudy Clar, Efren Sabuero at Eduardo Abugatal.

“The fate of the abducted personnel is still uncertain and the identity and affiliation of the perpetrators is being determined,” Ferrer said.

With its thick forests, Agusan del Norte province also serves as communist rebels’ lair.

It was not clear who took them or why, Ferrer said, but both communist New People’s Army (NPA) insurgents and illegal loggers are known to operate in the area.

The NPA is also known to profit from illegal logging by extorting money from firms engaged in the trade, the military has said.

Mario Mallari

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