US help mulled in search for Peace Corps volunteer

After being thwarted by fog and rugged terrain, police are considering asking for help from the US Embassy to look for missing US Peace Corps volunteer Julia Campbell. Ifugao provincial police director Senior Superintendent Pedro Gamir admitted this as he said search operations on the ground had been expanded, with native tourist guides joining the search. "Yan ang suggestion ng US Embassy, kung may expertise na kailangan ire-request. Pero wala pa tayong request na forwarded sa US Embassy (The US Embassy had suggested that we accept its help and tap its expertise. But as far as I know, we have not forwarded a request to it)," Gamir said in an interview on dzRH radio. He said that as of Monday morning, one platoon of policemen under his command jumped off 6 a.m., and he was to personally supervise the operations later in the day. Gamir said the police have also tapped natives and civilian volunteers, including local tour guides, to help look for Campbell. But he said there is still no verification on whether Campbell was abducted. "Walang assessment may dumukot or may kumidnap or insurgency involved. The theory is, missing o naligaw o sumama sa ibang kasamahan (There is still no basis to theorize that she was abducted, much less by insurgents. The theory is still that she got lost or linked up with her colleagues)," he said. Cordillera regional police director Chief Superintendent Raul Gonzales admitted the military choppers have not had much success looking for Campbell because of the fog and rugged terrain. "Aerial surveillance sila pero nagkaroon kami ng kahirapan doon. Foggy ang lugar at rugged ang terrain (The military choppers are conducting aerial surveillance but we are having a hard time because the area is foggy and the terrain is rugged)," Gonzales told dzRH radio in a separate interview. He said he expects Philippine National Police chief Director General Oscar Calderon to authorize anytime soon the use of PNP choppers to join the search for Campbell, reported missing since April 8. On the other hand, he said his office has received "rumors" that Campbell may have already left the region but said these remained unverified. Campbell, 40, was last seen on April 8 in the town of Banaue in Ifugao province, where she had planned to hike alone, said US Embassy spokesman Matthew Lussenhop. Campbell, who worked as a journalist in New York, contributed a story to the CNN about the death and destruction in the wake of supertyphoon Durian, which hit Legazpi City in late November. She is one of 137 Peace Corps volunteers currently in the Philippines. More than 8,000 Peace Corps volunteers have served in the Philippines since 1961, making it the corps' second-oldest program in the world, the embassy said. In 1990, the New People's Army seized Peace Corps volunteer Timothy Swanson and held him for 50 days on central Negros Island. He was released unharmed to the Red Cross after the late Roman Catholic Bishop Antonio Fortich helped negotiate with his captors. In June that year, the US government ordered the evacuation of Peace Corps workers from the Philippines after receiving intelligence that rebels may try to kill or kidnap them. - GMANews.TV