On June 11th, 2011 after spending a rewarding but tiring day visiting his clan in his boyhood home of Barangay Bacolod I in the municipality of Lumba-Bayabao in Lanao del Sur Province 37 year old businessman Camal Tocal was relieved to be heading home to Marawi City. Looking at his wife Rocma beside him and in the rear view mirror at his 12 year old son Jabber and 11 year old daughter Rohaima he must have marvelled at how far apart their lives in Marawi's Barangay Wawalayan Marinaut were from his own hardscrabble youth in a rural settlement beset by open warfare. Perhaps he also began to wonder if their 35 year old yaya, or nanny would be required for much longer. In another year both his children would be high school students.
As Tocal's red Mazda 6-7 sped down Narciso Ramos National Hiway and crossed into Marawi's Barangay Gadongan a battered white pickup truck quickly passed him before swerving in front of him and making him slam on his brakes. As he sat there in utter shock six men poured out of the truck with M16s and surrounded Tocal's vehicle. Brusquely opening the driver's side door two of the gunmen grabbed Mr.Tocal and dragged him into the cab of the pickup truck. The other gunmen then rifled through Tocal's Mazda and his wife's purse taking anything of value before running back towards the idling pickup truck and then speeding off in the opposite direction, back out of Marawi City and towards the municipality of Marantao.
Looking at the clock in the automobile's dashboard Mrs.Tocal saw that the attack had only taken minutes. Having glanced at the clock just before the car had screeched to a halt she remembered having seen it read 1228PM. Now it had barely passed 1232, in four minutes all their lives had changed forever. Collecting herself she borrowed the cellphone of a good samaritan who had stopped to help what he had first believed to be a stranded motorist. Doing what someone should NEVER do the shaken woman dialed the number of the Marawi City CPO, or City Police office and reported a kidnapping.
Recording the time received as 1240PM the CPO quickly alerted the town of Marantao's MPO, or Municipal Police Office and asked it to implement a Blocking Force in that municipality's Barangay Maul, both on the hiway and just off it on any access roads. Meanwhile the Marawi City CPO also scrambled its own chase cars for a hot pursuit. At just after 1PM a Marawi City CPO vehicle spotted the pickup truck crossing the cityline into Marantao and the chase was on. At about that same time the pickup truck carrying the gunmen and Mr.Tocal ran right through a Blocking Force checkpoint on the hiway and turmed down a side road. With both Marawi City AND Marantao police vehicles in high speed pursuit the kidnappers' truck made a run for it. Unfortunately for them though they clipped a Mitsubishi L300 passenger van as they attempted to pass it at a very high rate of speed.
Aside from superficially injuring all the van's passengers it almost sent the pickup truck careening into an irrigation canal. Regaining traction the truck again picked up speed but the near collision had allowed some of the pursuing police vehicles to close the gap quite a bit. Two of the kidnappers in the bed of the pickup truck then engaged their pursuers, intermittingly firing their M16s. Though no police were wounded the two gunmen themselves were not as fortunate:
1) Jonivy "Joni" Sarabia Diaz, age 20, of Iligan City in the neighbouring province of Lanao del Norte
2) Jamil "Mel Mel" Bubong Macadato, age 26 of Marawi City
were both moderately wounded by return fire. Though both men were far from death they were covered in blood and going into shock. Shortly after the exchange of gunfire the pickup truck was lost in the maze of jungle trails on the outskirts of Marantao. Thinking the two wounded men were close to dying their confederates dumped them onto the side of the road where police, later scouring the sector, recovered them and brought them to a hospital in Marawi City. On June 13th both men were charged both in the KFR, or Kidnap for Ransom and Robbery as well as with the near collision with the Mitsubishi L300 passenger van and the injuries inflicted upon its passengers. However, whatever grain of intelligence both men MIGHT have produced was not forthcoming as neither one agreed to co-operate.
Having been counseled by those wiser than herself Mrs.Tocal broke off all contact with all law enforcement and the military and instead left it in the hands of her husband's clan. The Tocal Clan then employed the services of Mangombaya Mamasaranao to negotiate a reasonable ransom. On June 20th a ransom (undisclosed sum) was turned over to the representatives of the kidnappers and on June 21st Camal Tocal was released by his captors inside a courtyard on the Marawi City Campus of MSU, or Mindanao State University. That last fact is a bit ironic given the rash of KFRs targeting staff and students of the school. Though the university has made progress since the days when they hired KFR kingpings as Chiefs of Security the fact that a KFR group would be able to infiltrate campus security with a well publicised captive in tow is apalling to say the least. That they did so was a message to MSU brass, that they ought to finally pay the protection money long demanded.
As usual the authorities assume they are dealing with a retarded public by suggesting that the Kuratong Balaleng is behind this and other recent area KFRs. The Kuratong were a paramilitary formed by the Parijong Clan of Ozamiz City, in Misamis Occidental Province. Formed in the early 1980s as an anti-NPA force it was very quickly co-opted by the AFP, or Armed Forces of the Philippines. When the NPA threat dissipated and its military patrons moved onto to other misery the group devolved into a score of unrelated criminal gangs all using the same name. However almost all operated outside of Mindanao. Moreover they were founded by and composed of Christian ethnicities, Cebuanos (Bisaya) and Ilonggo. Even if they were still in existence, and they aren't, they would never be able to operate in Lanao del Sur, let alone engage in KFR.
Just as in all other areas of Mindanao where KFR is endemic, Jolo, Basilan, the Zamboanga Peninsula, and Central Mindanao the KFR Industry, and that is EXACTLY what it is, is tired directly into the local political structure slash powerbase. It is no secret that nothing moves in Marawi without the Mayor getting a taste. Of course then the powers that be, in this case Colonel Daniel Lucero of the AFP's 103rd Brigade has a highly vested interest in making up ridiculous stories. In this way people have a culprit to blame, even if that culprit really doesn't exist.
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