The Australian embassy in Manila has confirmed reports that four members of an Australian family in the resort island of Boracay are being detained by armed "thugs" since Wednesday night.
Embassy press officer Kiel Enrique said the family has contacted Manila and consular assistance is being extended to the family of four "to ensure their welfare and safety."
The head of the family, Greg Hutchinson, said the family is being held against its will in their own apartment at the resort hotel named "SandCastle."
Australian Greg Hutchinson, who reportedly still has 11 years remaining of a 30-year lease on the luxury resort, claimed that electrical and telephone connections to his apartment were cut off and the emergency exit blocked with an industrial gas cylinder, an explosive equipment.
Enrique also said the embassy’s consul is in communication with local police who had advised that “officers were on the scene to resolve the matter.â€
Hutchinson indicated in earlier reports that the Wednesday caper is an "organized campaign" to force him out of Boracay. "This type of intimidation has been going on for three years," he said, and he thought it would go.
The police chief of Boracay, Col. Arnold Ardiente, reportedly claimed he had offered Hutchinson and his family safe passage out of the resort but that they refused to leave and are waiting for their lawyer.
The armed men, masked in balaclavas, reportedly did not fire a shot but the sight of them brandishing their weapons as they forced their way into the property frightened the staff and guests who then scampered away. - PNA
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Topic: Hostage Crisis in Boracay (Read 3605 times)