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SCMP Reporter

AN ailing Filipino war veteran who went missing on his first holiday abroad two weeks ago was found safe yesterday.

 Anastacio Gutierrez, 77, last night told how donations of bread, bananas, peanuts and water kept him alive as he wandered around Kowloon lost and confused.

   Speaking to the South China Morning Post at Queen Elizabeth Hospital after being rescued by an alert Filipino maid, the World War II veteran said it was generosity that had kept him alive.

   Mr Gutierrez, a retired US Army private, had not been seen since he wandered out of the Holiday Inn Golden Mile on May 5.

   He was on a four-day package tour - his first overseas holiday. He was reported missing the day after his disappearance by relatives travelling with him.

 In jovial mood, Mr Gutierrez had his first proper meal in two weeks as he sat in bed last night.

  ''I'm very happy. I feel relieved. The food [stewed pork and melon rice] is delicious. I'm okay now that I have had a decent meal,'' he said, beaming but still puzzled at his disappearance.

  ''I was in my room and I suddenly felt hungry. I then went to the ground floor of the hotel to look for food. I kept walking and nobody paid attention to me.

  ''Maybe that was how I got lost when I kept walking slowly. I bumped into a lady who kindly gave me some bread.

  ''I then arrived at a market where I got some water from a well to drink. I slept there at night. The next day, I talked to the workers but we could not communicate with each other,'' Mr Gutierrez remembered, much of his ordeal still hazy.

  His friend in Hong Kong, domestic helper Lydia Geul, said he had met some Filipino workers in the market who did not realise he was a missing person.

  ''He was even given some pesos by the fellow Filipinos. He thought he was still in the Philippines,'' she said after speaking to Mr Gutierrez at the hospital.

  Mr Gutierrez could not remember how long he had walked for or how he ended up in Mongkok.

   He was found by Wilma Alvaro, 20, a maid working in Kadoorie Avenue. She was on her way to buy a newspaper for her boss yesterday when she noticed an old man standing on the staircase underneath a flyover at the junction of Prince Edward and Embankment roads.

  ''At first I thought he was Chinese but when I came closer to have a look I realised it was the missing Filipino man.

  ''I recognised the marks on his lips, which were mentioned in a Metro Plus radio programme last Saturday night for local Filipinos,'' she said.

  She went to her employer's flat and police were alerted.

  The war veteran, who suffers from asthma and a heart ailment, was still where Ms Alvaro had found him.

  ''Thanks must go to the maid for her conscious effort to have a good look at him and alert the consulate,'' Detective Senior Inspector David Mattinson said.

  Mr Gutierrez' daughter, Teresa, arrived from Manila last night and went straight to the hospital.



War veteran wandered Kowloon for two weeks