Call to free priest kidnapped in Philippines

Fears were growing today for the health of an elderly Irish missionary who was dramatically kidnapped in the Philippines by armed raiders who burst into his home.

Father Michael Sinnott, 79, was snatched by six gunmen who it is thought may have tricked house-keeping staff to unlock the gated compound in Pagadian City on the southern island of Mindanao.

The gang grabbed the Co Wexford priest, bundled him into the back of a pick-up truck and fled to a nearby beach where they escaped by speedboat.

Fr Pat O’Donoghue, the Columbans’ regional director in the Philippines, said he was fearful Fr Sinnott’s health could be affected given the shock of his experience.

“He’s a very robust man for his age, but he has had a heart by-pass four years ago,” he said from his home in Manila.

“The concern that I would have is that if he does not have his medication this would be very serious thing for him, especially given the shock. It must be a very shocking thing to find yourself bundled into a car and taken away.”

Muslim guerrillas have been fighting for an independent state in the southern Philippines region for decades and have been known to target and kidnap foreigners, including priests.

However, authorities do not yet know who is behind the abduction as no group has claimed responsibility.

The kidnapping happened at around 11.30am yesterday morning (7.30pm in the Philippines) when Fr Sinnott, from Barntown, was walking in his private garden.

It is understood house-keeping staff were locking the gate for the evening when someone asked to see a priest.

When the gate was opened the others pushed their way in and grabbed Fr Sinnott as his horrified aides looked on.

The staff raised the alarm and local police rushed to the scene.

Fr Sinnott was taken in the back of a pick-up truck and then whisked away on a motorboat toward the nearby town of Tukuran.

The truck was later found abandoned and burnt out.

“My prayer, my concern is that he will not be held for long and he will be let go because of his age and his wellbeing,” Fr O’Donoghue said.

No ransom demand has been made and it is understood payments are never offered in such incidents.

Fr Sinnott, who turns 80 in December, had been based in the Philippines since 1976 and for the last four years was running a school for children with hearing difficulties.

He is a highly respected missionary and is a well-liked figure in the community.

He was working and living in the region with a priest from Limerick who is currently on holiday, whom Fr O’Donoghue declined to name.

Fr O’Donoghue said the 47 Columban missionaries based in the Philippines were shocked by news of the kidnapping.

He said missionaries were aware of the dangers but the Columbans believed Pagadian City to be a safe haven.

“We were all very, very shocked. There have been kidnappings before in that broader area,” Fr O’Donoghue said.

“We would have thought that in the city of Pagadian, somebody would have been relatively safe. People take precautions in the sense that they don’t go to places were they believe it to be dangerous.”

Fr O’Donoghue will fly over an hour south from Manila to Pagadian this morning where he will meet the Pagadian Bishop Manny Cabajar and discuss the kidnapping with authorities.

Fr Sinnott was ordained in 1954 and following studies in Rome, assigned to Mindanao, Philippines in 1957.

He served in Mindanao until 1966 before returning to work in Ireland.

He returned to Philippines in 1976 where he served in a variety of pastoral and administrative roles before taking on the running of his school full time.

In October 1997 Fr Des Hartford was abducted by the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and held for 11 days in the jungle until he was freed.

Almost four years later in August 2001, Fr Rufus ’Popong’ Halley was killed during an attempted abduction while travelling through Malabang, east of Pagadian City.

Mostly recently, an Italian priest, Giancarlo Bossi, was kidnapped allegedly by members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Abu Sayyaf in nearby Zamboanga Sibugay province in June 2007 and freed after 39 days.

The 11,000-strong Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which has been engaged in on and off peace talks with the Philippine government, denies any involvement in kidnappings for ransom.

Abu Sayyaf is a smaller, more militant Islamic separatist group believed to have links to al-Qaida and the Southeast Asian terror group Jemaah Islamiyah.