Envoy: Peace Corps men more security conscious

Members of the US Peace Corps in the Philippines have become more security conscious following the killing early this year of Julia Campbell in Ifugao province. This, even as the number of volunteers have not dwindled due to the gruesome incident, said US Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney on Wednesday. "We do take safety and security of our volunteers very seriously," Kenney told reporters during her visit to outgoing National Police chief Director General Oscar Calderon and his successor, Deputy Director General Oscar Calderon at Camp Crame. According to Kenney, there are more or less 200 peace corps volunteers in the country at any time. All "feel safe" working in various communities, she said. The volunteers, based on a statement posted at the US Embassy website, are spread in the regions of Cordillera, Ilocos, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Central and Eastern Visayas. "I visited two of them in Ilocos Norte on Thursday and Friday. They traveled with me for two days to visit schools and they love their work, they love being here," Kenney said. Kenney said that in her talk with Calderon, she praised the latter for the PNP's efforts in solving the case of Campbell and for "their extraordinary compassion to our volunteers and to all of us at a time that was devastating for Americans and the Peace Corps volunteers." "I'm actually looking forward to getting up to Banaue myself at some point because I wanna thank the police up there, the local citizens who helped us look for Julia Campbell, have a chance to see for myself the extraordinary beauty, and have a chance to see all the projects of the peace corps, USAID," Kenney said. Campbell was initially reported as missing when she went on a hike in Banaue in April. A few days later, she was found dead. The suspect was identified as Juan Donald Duntugan, 25, who claimed to have mistook Campbell as his long-time enemy who was following him on the night of April 8. Duntugan is now in jail and undergoing trial before a local court for the crime of murder. - GMANews.TV