Pat Dollard

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MANILA, Philippines— Gunmen ransacked a Roman Catholic school in the southernmost Philippine province, fatally shooting a priest who had received death threats from Muslim militants and abducting a teacher, officials said Wednesday.

About 10 masked gunmen seized Reynaldo Roda from his mission on remote Tawi-Tawi island on late Tuesday and shot him dead after police tried to stop them, police Chief Superintendent Joel Goltiao. A male teacher, Omar Taup, was abducted and computers stolen, he said.

The attackers brought Roda to a speedboat about a mile from the school when a police team caught up with them and engaged them in an hour-long gunfight, Goltiao said.

“Before the encounter, a gunshot was heard. We believe they shot Father Roda,” he said. “Father Roda’s body was found bathed in his own blood. He died on the spot.”

The suspects escaped toward the island’s interior and army and police troops launched a manhunt to free the hostage, Goltiao said.

the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines said in a statement that Roda had received death threats from the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf group, which has gained notoriety for bomb attacks, kidnappings and beheadings of hostages.

Priests and missionaries have often been the target of Muslim extremists who have waged a decades-long insurgency for self-rule in the predominantly Catholic Philippines.

(AP)