Australia forms task force to tackle reported abduction in Zamboanga Sibugay

MANILA, Philippines—Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard ordered a consular task force led by the Australian Embassy in Manila to coordinate with local authorities and monitor developments in the reported abduction of Australian Warren Rodwell in Ipil City, Zamboanga Sibugay, on Monday night.

“We are certainly aware that an Australian in the Philippines … may have been kidnapped. There are media reports to that effect as well. In these circumstances, a task force has been formed to deal with this issue. Our embassy in the Philippines is working with local authorities to try and establish the full facts here. We don’t have the full facts now and we want to make sure that we establish the full facts, and we are providing consular support and assistance to family members of the man who may be involved in these kidnap circumstances,” Gillard said in a press conference in Canberra (https://www.pm.gov.au/press-office/transcript-press-conference-canberra-20).

The Australian Embassy in Manila has yet to issue a statement on the abduction or Gillard’s instructions. Only answering machines responded to the media’s calls to the embassy’s public affairs office.