Six men, including two Canadians who are working for a mining company in Davao del Sur, were abducted on Tuesday by a group of local bandits.

The kidnappers, however, released the victims after holding them for two-and-a-half-hours and after stripping them of their personal belongings and equipment.

Police Regional Office 11 director Chief Supt. Andres Caro identified the six kidnapped men as Madong Toro, Johny Malid, Adundio Tanedo, Loreto Blanco and Canadians Andrei Argamomob, 45, and Deth Triesen, 23.

All of the victims are working for Sagittarius Mine Inc., where the Canadians are employed as surveyors.

The mine workers were snatched about 11 a.m. on Tuesday at sitio Saub, barangay Tacub, Kiblawan town, allegedly by three B’laan bandits.

Caro said the suspects, who were armed with a Garand rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun, flagged down the victims and took them to the interior portion of the village where they were held.

The suspects also took the geophysics equipment and laptop computers of the Canadians.

At past 1 p.m. on the same day, the bandits released their victims but took with them the equipment, which they asked to be redeemed with P10,000.

Caro said that joint elements of the Kiblawan Police Station, provincial police intelligence unit and the Army’s 39th Infantry Battalion have pursued the suspects.

P500-M student fund from VAT windfall to aid 60,000 college kids

PRESIDENT Arroyo on Thursday launched a P500-million student assistance fund, the second in a series of programs funded by windfall gains from the value-added tax (VAT) on oil, amid continued calls to scrap the unpopular tax on the vital resource.

MALACAÑANG asserted on Thursday that it has been “responding strongly” to the challenge posed by inflation and urged all sectors to work together in building up national economic defenses against soaring oil and food prices.

GREEN groups have intensified the campaign against global warming with the resounding call to stop wasteful consumption and disposal to reverse the impact of climate change, which is now severely affecting the poorest of the poor in developing countries, including the Philippines.

NEW YORK—The Philippines is expected to again make its presence felt in the United Nations following the election yesterday of two Filipino diplomats to important positions in the 63rd Session of the General Assembly, the Philippine Mission to the United Nations announced.

Six men, including two Canadians who are working for a mining company in Davao del Sur, were abducted on Tuesday by a group of local bandits.

Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales appealed to President Arroyo to redeclare the Marikina watershed as protected area to save Metro Manila from experiencing a water crisis.