Philippine Muslim leader issues appeal for Filipino kidnapped in Iraq

Published: 2004-11-09

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (CNS) -- A Philippine Islamic scholar appealed for the freedom of a Filipino accountant in Iraq and reminded the abductors that Ramadan is a time of pardon. Ustadz Mahmod Adilao, southern Mindanao regional chairman of the Ulama (Islamic Scholars) League of the Philippines, asked the abductors to free the overseas worker "even if only in the spirit of pardon during Ramadan," reported UCA News, an Asian church news agency based in Thailand. Accountant Robert Tarongoy, 31, was declared missing after gunmen reportedly seized him from his office in Baghdad Nov. 1. Adilao read his statement Nov. 8 to media in Davao City, where Tarongoy's family lives. He said a copy of the statement would be delivered to officials of the World Muslim League in Iraq by Elias Macarandas, secretary-general of the Philippine league of Islamic scholars.

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