Unidentified gunmen abducted three public schoolteachers in a remote southern Philippine town in the latest kidnapping in the volatile region, the military said Saturday.Four armed men seized the three female teachers in the coastal town of Naga in Zamboanga Sibugay province on Friday, military spokeswoman Lt. Steffani Cacho said. The gunmen forced them to board a boat that then sped away, she said.
Cacho said authorities have no immediate suspects and no group has claimed responsibility. She said the navy was helping with the search.
Three other teachers are being held for ransom by suspected Muslim militants on southern Basilan island after they were seized in January.
Militants from the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf also are holding three international Red Cross workers on Jolo, farther south. The group is demanding the withdrawal of military forces from the area before starting any negotiations. The military has refused.
Suspected militants also are holding four other hostages on Jolo and one on Basilan, Cacho said.