
MANILA – Philippine authorities and church officials on Sunday launched fresh appeals for the safety of an elderly Irish priest they fear may be in dire need of medical attention eight days after he was abducted by unknown gunmen.
Thousands of flyers were being handed out in coastal communities on the troubled southern island of Mindanao seeking help to get medicines delivered to Father Michael Sinnott, 79.
“We appeal to your kind heart that the medicines will be delivered to Father Sinnott who currently has a serious heart ailment,” read one flyer released by the provincial government of Zamboanga del Sur. It also listed emergency contact numbers.
No group has claimed responsibility for the October 11 abduction of the Roman Catholic missionary and his superiors had had no contact with his abductors, said Patrick O’Donoghue, country head of the Irishman’s religious order, the Missionary Society of Saint Columban.
The military said a local pirate had taken him by boat to the Lanao coast east of Pagadian city, and may have turned him over to a local leader of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a Muslim separatist rebel group.
The MILF leadership has denied any of its commanders were involved, and insists it is helping to secure Sinnott’s release.
Allan Molde, spokesman for a government task force handling the hostage crisis, said about 10,000 flyers had been distributed around Pagadian and nearby areas and more would be sent to coastal areas in the region.