Manila, Feb. 7 -- Six minors were rescued in one of the province's northern towns while preparing to travel to a tourist island along with an Australian national, the police said Friday.

Police Executive Master Sergeant Yuri Colonia, chief investigator at the San Remigio Police Station, said tourist police arrested the foreigner at the Hagnaya Port.

"The foreigner is staying in a hotel in Cebu City," he said.

Colonia said the minors, aged 15 to 17, were accompanying the foreigner for an island-hopping to Bantayan Island.

The foreigner was not able to present proper documentation like a passport when the tourist police asked for it, he said.

The police is verifying information that the Australian national has a prior record of child e...