The Irish missionary priest shot dead by three gunmen during a foiled kidnap attempt in the Philippines yesterday had told friends he was in danger.
Father Rufus Halley (57), a Columban from Co Waterford, was killed after being dragged from his motorcycle on his way home from attending a religious meeting.
The attack happened near the town of Malabang, in Lanao del Sur Province on Mindanao, the Philippines' second-largest island. Father Halley had been living in Malabang for 20 years and was parish priest of the local Our Lady of Peace Church.
He was returning by motorcycle to the local convent in Malabang after chairing an interdenominational religious meeting in the nearby town of Balabagan at 5 p.m. local time (10 a.m. Irish time) when he was flagged down by gunmen on a dirt road in Diamaro District.
A senior police officer for the region, Supt Akmad Omar, told The Irish Times last night that the gunmen tried to kidnap Father Halley for a ransom.
"It appears the gang tried to kidnap the priest, but he refused to go with them and was shot. He died immediately," he said.
Supt Omar said the gunmen were armed with Armalite rifles and wore ski masks. He said kidnapping for ransom was very common in the region.
Witnesses told the police officer that Father Halley tried to talk his attackers out of taking him. They shot him in the head.
Supt Omar said the main suspect in the murder was the son of the commander of a local extremist group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. Mindanao is 90 per cent Muslim.
Last night residents in the poor coastal town of 10,000 people were shocked at the tragedy. Father Halley was a much-loved figure in the area who was well known for his work with the poor and in the school.
The eighth Columban priest to be murdered in the Philippines since the order arrived on the islands in the 1920s, he had known for some time that his life was in danger.
He told friends in Waterford on a visit home this summer of threats and intimidation arising from his efforts to negotiate between pro- and anti-government factions in the volatile area where he lived.
"He knew he was in trouble. He told me he was in serious difficulties," said Mr Billy Walsh, one of his closest friends.
"He explained to me about the different factions operating there and how he was living among them. But he was fearless. He was living among the people in his parish, and that's the way he wanted it to be. He put his trust in God," he said.