Gunmen believed to be Muslim rebels seized 20 people including two US missionaries in a dawn raid on a tourist resort in the southern Philippines yesterday, officials said.
A third American and 17 Filipinos were also seized in the raid on Dos Palmas resort off Palawan Island.
Hours after the attack, a motorboat thought to be carrying the gunmen and their hostages was spotted by military aircraft near the maritime border with Malaysia, said national security adviser Roilo Golez.
"We are conducting pursuit operations .... We have deployed navy vessels in the area," Golez said. "They are travelling slowly apparently because of the many people on board."
Manila had told Kuala Lumpur that the gunmen might try to slip into Malaysian territory "and the Malaysian navy is stepping up its border patrol," a military spokesman said.
Two of the kidnapped foreigners were a US couple who had been working with minority groups in the Philippines for 15 years. Thirteen domestic tourists, including an eight-year-old boy and four resort guards and staff were also abducted.
The military described the raiders as "terrorists" while a police officer said they were believed to be Muslim separatist Abu Sayyaf rebels.
President Gloria Arroyo issued a statement condemning the raid as a "dastardly criminal act by ruthless bandits."
The masked gunmen, armed with a machinegun and assault rifles, raided the resort on Arrecifi Island, near the Palawan provincial capital of Puerto Princesa, at about 5am, police said.
Holding resort guards at gunpoint, some of the raiders broke into cottages where tourists were sleeping and grabbed them.
"It all happened very quickly. Everyone was stunned and no one could talk .... It was all over in 15 to 20 minutes," said resort security officer Rudy Gordono.
Golez said the government had not received any ransom demands.
"But if ransom or money is their primary objective, we would like to reiterate to them the no-ransom policy of the government," he said.
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