2 school officials abducted in south Philippines

Gunmen kidnapped two ranking public school officials in southern Philippines on Monday, police authorities said Tuesday. Police Regional Office 9 director Chief Supt. Juanito Vao identified the victims as Rudy Luna and his wife, Tessie who are both supervisors of a public elementary school in Kumalarang town in Zamboanga del Sur province. Vao said eight unidentified gunmen barged into the victims' house in the village of Diplo and seized the victims at 8 p.m. on Monday. He said, however, that the woman was able to escape while they were being transported by their abductors to a waiting motorized pump boat. Luna is the second teacher kidnapped in the region in a span of two months. Last December, a group of gunmen seized a teacher in an island village east of Zamboanga City.