Roland Bigler, International Committee of the Red Cross Communication delegate, points to the Philippine map where three of the red cross workers were kidnapped during an interview in Manila January 15, 2009. (Chinese media/Reuters Photo)
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by Chinese media Writer Xu Lingui
MANILA, Feb. 8 (Chinese media) -- "It's all about money."
Large amount of ransom payment has fueled notorious rebel group Abu Sayyaf's
activities and has spawned a number of smaller kidnapping-for-ransom gangs in
the Philippines, a leading anti-crime crusader in the country said.
Abu Sayyaf militants, who lost their top leaders in
recent years' military offensives, might be further emboldened by the prospect
of dragging prominent politicians into the rescue operation, displaying the
clout this 370-member extremist group could still wield through acts of
banditry, she added.
Teresita Ang-See, spokesperson of the Manila-based
anti-crime watchdog Citizens Action Against Crime (CAAC), told Chinese media in a
recent interview that sticking to the no-ransom policy and complete hands-off of
Manila politicians, especially to avoid the limelight during the negotiation
process, may help curb rampant abductions in southern Philippines
Security situation deteriorated recently in Muslim
Mindanao as at least 12 people were kidnapped during the past month in Zamboanga
city, Basilan and Jolo islands, a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf in southern
Philippines' Mindanao region. However, it is unfair to blame all kidnappings to
the Abu Sayyafs. Many of them are in fact perpetrated by kidnap-for-ransom
gangs. They are plain and simple criminals, not rebels, Ang See emphasized.
By Sunday, two foreigner and eight locals, including
three workers of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), three state
teachers, a mid-wife and a nine-year-old and are still in the captive of armed
men in the jungles of Jolo, some 950 kilometers south of Manila.
"There were not so many cases in the second half of
2008, kidnappers might be hungry again," Ang-See said. According to her
organization's data, only 12 abductions were recorded in Mindanao from July to
December 2008, part of the 71 cases last year nation-wide, in which a combined
sum of 33.67 million pesos (716,383 U.S. dollars) were paid to kidnappers in
exchange for the freedom of 94people.
"The ransom payment is an extremely low estimate
because in most cases, we do not know how much ransom was paid. Reports in
Mindanao reveal that more than 42 million pesos have already been paid out to
kidnap-for-ransom groups in Mindanao in recent years,"Ang-See explained.
Ang-See said Mindanao kidnappers, mostly jobless and
poor people, originally demanded relatively small sum of "food and boarding"
fees, livelihood projects for local communities, and in some cases, only sacks
of rice.
But after Abu Sayyaf militants successfully extorted
huge ransom after abducting 21 tourists, including 10 Europeans, in Malaysia'
Sipadan resort in 2000, and Palawan's Dos Palmas resort in 2001, local rebels
and gangs were spurred to action by the million-dollar-ransom prospect in
high-profile abductions, she added.
Police reports indicated that the Abu Sayyaf has
collected more than 31 million U.S. dollars from ransom payments since the
group's founding in 1992 by radical Islamic rebels aspirant of a separate Muslim
state in south of the Catholic Philippines.
But the allegedly al-Qaida-linked group turned to
money-oriented banditry from the political and religious agendas under the
leadership of Khadaffy Janjalani in 2000s and ransom has become its bloodline
since foreign funding had become scare and difficult.
Ang-See said lured by large ransom a lot of gangs
other than the Abu Sayyaf have actually sprung up across the country, turning
northern Luzon and the National Capital Region, which are far from Abu Sayyaf's
influence, into another hotbed of kidnapping.
In 2008, there were 24 kidnappings in Metro Manila
and around, equal to the figure in insurgency-infested Mindanao , CAAC
statistics showed.
POLITICS BACKOFF
Speaking on three ICRC hostages, Ang-See, who had
initially discussed the case with PACER, the anti-kidnapping task force of the
Philippine National Police, said the case appeared to be more than just about
ransom.
She said no specific ransom demand has been made
almost one month after the abduction occurred, which is rare compared to most
kidnappings for ransom cases.
"It increasingly looks like a special case," said
Ang-See, adding that the Abu Sayyaf might be using it to demonstrate the group's
strength despite the on-going military operations and the deaths of top
commander Janjalani and his successor Abu Solaiman in 2006 and 2007
respectively.
Swiss national Andreas Notter, 38, Italian engineer
Eugenio Vagni, 62, and ICRC local employee Mary Jean Lacaba, 37, were snatched
at gunpoint on Jan. 15 by armed men in Jolo island of Sulu province after the
three completed a prison sanitarian project there.
Albader Parad, a ranking Abu Sayyaf commander wanted
by Washington for European and American-targeted bombing and kidnappings, has
claimed the responsibility for the abduction and demanded Philippine Vice
President Manuel "Noli" de Castro, Senator Richard Gordon, ambassadors of
Switzerland and Italy, among others to lead the negotiation for the hostages'
release.
The Philippine authority initially rejected the call
and said a Crisis Management Committee, headed by Sulu governor Sakur Tan and
made up of local officials and units from the police and the military, will
oversee the hostage crisis, and decide who should participate in the
negotiation. De Castro, on the other hand, has publicly expressed his
willingness to talk, if necessary.
"I think politicians in Manila should better be kept
off from the case. We have learnt the lessons before," said Ang-See, adding that
kidnappers are likely to further dramatize the crisis and put the safety of
hostages and negotiators in greater danger.
"They are playing into the hands of kidnappers who
just want to demonstrate to their foreign funders that they still have the
capacity to wreck havoc," Ang-See said.
Abu Sayyaf militants allegedly extended the capture
of popular TV anchorwoman Ces Drilon last July and hiked the ransom demand after
they learnt a certain prominent politician had offered to be personally involved
in the negotiation, local media and sources said in previous interviews.
Drilon was snatched on the trip to interview Abu
Sayyaf leader Radulan Sahiron, one of the original members and the "ideological
leader" of the group. She was released with huge ransom payment some 10 days
after the capture.
Local go-between in Ces's case, Indanan town mayor
Alvarez Isnaji, was later charged for his involvement in engineering the
abduction and allegedly pocketing a big portion of the ransom.
Unconfirmed media reports also accused certain local
politicians and men in uniform in Sulu of collaborating with bandits to raise
money for either personal consumption or for political campaigns.
Ang-See said these should serve as a harsh reminder
of how money and politics spoiled the peace restoration in Mindanao, a region
that boasts of breathtaking natural beauty, abundant resources, and friendly
people.
"People in Mindanao are good in nature. If the
Mindanao Development Plan had been pursued with sincerity and integrity,
Mindanao should be enjoying peace and prosperity, not crime and insurgency,"
Ang-See lamented.
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