Nearly two weeks after armed men abducted Irish priest Michael Sinnott, the Pagadian City government in Zamboanga del Sur province has offered a P200,000 reward for information on his whereabouts.
Pagadian City Mayor Samuel Co offered the cash reward as a separate initiative from the local government to help authorities save Sinnott from his captors. "
Kalahati nung pera manggagaling sa city government, yung kalahati kay Mayor Co mismo (Half of the reward money would come from the city government and the remaining half would be given by Mayor Co himself)," Timothy Piedad, Co's information officer told GMANews.TV on Friday. According to Piedad, they have already earmarked P100,000 for the cash reward but have appealed to city councilors to approve the additional P100,000 on Tuesday. "
Masyado kasing maliit yung P100,000 (The P100,00 cash reward seemed so little)," he added. Co’s offer also came while the military verifies reports that Sinnott, who has a heart condition, had died. Armed men abducted Sinnott in Pagadian City last October 11, but no group has so far come forward to claim responsibility for the incident. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) denied involvement in the abduction and had offered to help secure Sinnott’s release. On Thursday, crisis management spokesman and Zamboanga del Sur public information office chief Allan June Molde said Wednesday they are “very, very worried" over Sinnott’s condition. “Until this time there is no sign as to his whereabouts, or who kidnapped him. We are very, very worried," Molde said in an interview on dzXL radio. The crisis management group earlier told GMA News that they had no hand in the offered cash reward. On Monday, military authorities believed Sinnott is being held captive in the Lanao provinces. On October 14, the police released three hand-drawn sketches of the men who snatched the missionary from his house at the Missionary Society of St. Columban compound in Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur last Sunday evening. But going a step further into identifying the suspects, the Philippine National Police - with the help of computer technology - later patched up various features of the suspects as described by witnesses to come up with more realistic images of the men. Eventually, the police came up with the faces of five men, four of whom were seen taking away Sinnott. The last one was believed to have been the buyer of the group's getaway Suzuki multi-cab.
[Click each photograph to get a description of the suspects] Sinnott is the latest foreign national to be kidnapped in southern Philippines, following the abduction by the al-Qaeda linked Abu Sayyaf of two Swiss and Italian humanitarian workers in Sulu. They were eventually released. Notorious for abducting Filipinos and foreign nationals alike in the past years, the Abu Sayyaf is one of the few groups fighting for an independent state in Mindanao. Though not known for resorting to abduction, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front - formed in the 1970s - has also been thrown into the hot seat after police claimed Sinnott had been turned over to an MILF commander in Lanao del Norte. The MILF has denied involvement in the kidnapping and even expressed willingness to help the government look for the 79-year-old Irish priest.
- Joseph Holandes Ubalde with a report from Mark Merueñas, GMANews.TV 
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