In my recent "Kidnap for Ransom for the Third Quarter of 2011, Part XII" entry I discussed the September 19th, 2011 KFR, or Kidnap for Ransom of Cagayan del Oro City businessman Manuel G.Boniao. For those who don't recall, men dressed in PNP, or Philippine National Police, uniforms entered Peoples Agri Supply in Barangay Gusa and managed to disarm the lone security guard and divest him of his pump shotgun. Grabbing Mr.Boniao as well as his 17 year old son Edwin the faux (or authentic) policemen made their way out of the warehouse-like building. Arguing amongst themselves the kidnappers ended up not taking the boy and exited with only Mr.Boniao before speeding away into Barangay Puerto and an escape by sea.
On Wednesday, September 21st, the Isuzu Adventure used in the kidnapping was discovered unoccupied in the neighbouring province of Bukidnon. Parked on the side of a hiway in Sitio Langga in the municipality of Sumilao's Barangay San Vicente, facing towards Cagayan del Oro City, it had been amateurishly spraypainted black in a foolish attempt to change the vehicle's appearance. Twenty-two empty cans of black Pylox spray paint along with three jars of mostly used laquer thinner were discovered inside the SUV, along with the six police patrol tee shirts used in the kidnapping and four PNP baseball caps. The tee shirts are easily faked but all six of these shirts were PNP-issued to PRO-4A, or Police Regional Office for Region 4A. Region 4A is more popularly known as CALABARZON Region, on Luzon. While those shirts definitely lend creedence to the intelligence coming out of Manila that the various PNP cliques moonlighting as KFR, or Kidnap for Ransom groups have finally branched into the south, it is also just as possible that the uniforms had been captured or stolen.
As for a police connection, such a development, if accurate, is very interesting because of the propencity of turf wars between newcomers, albeit highly organised, and the well established local Mindanowan organisations directly tied into the local power structure. Also found in the re-painted SUV was a roll of tape, Boniao's emptied brown leather wallet and most noteworthy of all, the discovery of Mr.Boniao's sleeveless blue tee shirt with blood stains all over it. The SUV was traced and found to have been originally owned by Abdul Hakim Grande. On September 15th, 2011, four days before Mr.Boniao was dragged into hell, Mr.Grande sold the vehicle to Enrique Goltiao. Mr.Goltiao tells a funny story. According to him, as soon as he bought the red Isuzu Adventure (NOT a Mitsibushi Adventure as many have erroneously reported), he turned right around and flipped it to an auto broker whom he knows only by the eponym, or should I instead say "nom de guerre," Gayong. Ridiculously police claim to be focusing on "Gayong" as opposed to hanging Enrique Goltiao up by his thumbs and laying the rattan on him.
Almost immediately after the September 19th abduction the family contacted an old friend, Felix Borromeo, the ex-Mayor of Balingasag, a municipality within Bukidnon Province, who was tied into the local KFR industry. With Borremeo's assistance the negotiations went smoothly but as in all cases resolved within days the Boniao Family ended up paying much more than would normally be the case. Reportedly Mrs.Boniao pushed Mr.Borremeo to pay whatever they demanded so as to not prolong the ordeal. One certainly cannot criticise the woman even if no compelling evidence like her husband's badly bloodied shirt were discovered. As if that wasn't horrendous enough I am sure that Mrs.Boniao was well aware of the infamous KFR of their former business associate, Bennie Longbien Lee. The Tsinoy (Filipino of Chinese descent) businessman's shop was directly next door to Boniao's Peoples Agri Supply. Way back in 1980 Mr.Lee was kidnapped from his place of business, just as Mr.Boniao was. When the family took too long consolidating their money for a steep ransom demand Mr.Lee was executed. Understandably Mrs.Boniao, who personally witnessed her husband's abduction, was in no shape to endure a long and drawn out negotiating process.
Mr.Borremeo did as Mrs.Boniao requested and managed to net a 33% reduction from the kidnapper's first authentic offer of 5.5 Million Pesos. That same day, Saturday, September 24th, he then delivered a "Room and Lodging Fee" of 1.5 Million Pesos ($33,000) to a representative of the KFR group at a local mall. That evening, Mr.Boniao was dropped off in front of his Cagayan del Oro city home in Barangay Carmen's Golden Village Sub-division having taken a habal-habal (motorcycle taxi), after his abductors dropped him off on a hiway in Lanao del Sur Province.
Aside from having been handcuffed during his five day ordeal and almost always under a blindfold, Mr.Boniao was apparently none the worse for the wear although quite often the psychological wounds run a lot deeper and often never heal at all. In Zamboanga City, inside of Camp Navarro, the huge military base that serves as the home of WESMINCOM, or Western Mindanao Command, sits a non-descript turquiose and white concrete bungalow. Not much to look at, it is proof positive that great things often come in small packages. Officially christened "Healing House" it was created through the hard work and tireless effort of a female American expatriate, psychologist Eleanor Lisa Beyea Pomoroy PhD, who spent the better part of a year and a half working at Dr.Torres Memorial Hospital in Lamitan City on the island of Basilan. Her place of employment was the scene of a pivotal ASG, or Abu Sayyaf Group, kidnapping that took place way back in 2001.
Then-leader of the Basilan ASG, Khadaffy Janjalani, younger brother of ASG founder Abdurajak Janjalani, had led his band of sorry misfits in an audacious attack against a high priced resort off of Palawan Island's capital of Puerto Princessa. The kidnapping including three Americans (the Burnhams, Martin and Gracia, a missionary couple, and Guillermo Sobrero, a would be lothario) and high tailed it back south to Basilan.
Landing in Basilan with the AFP, or Armed Forces of the Philippines, right behind him Janjalani led his men and their captives to what he thought would be his last stand, inside Dr.Torres Memorial Hospital. Of course Janjalani managed to escape out of there with even more captives thanks to the connivance of local politicians and the local military commander. However, the Palawan abduction, known commonly as the "Dos Palmas Kidnapping," after the pricey resort where it transpired, has become the quinessential expat nightmare. It made such an impression on the female American I mentioned that she launched an initiative that culminated in the creation of the afore mentioned "Healing House." The name refers to a lot more than the modest concrete structure situated catacorner to a food stall, but to the scores of therapeutic programmes that seek to alleviate much of the mental baggage carried by kidnapping victims. Unfortunately the programme ended not long after she returned to the United States but it ought to have set a standard of care for these battered and bruised victims, of which Mr.Boniao surely is one.
Speaking of the Dos Palmas Kidnapping, two brothers from Basilan learned this week that one must always pay for their mistakes. As teens brothers Abu Abdul Aziz Kunting and Abu Akmed Kunting joined Abu Sayyaf. The decision wouldn't have been too difficult given the island of Basilan's extreme poverty and the Abu Sayyaf's recent kidnapping on Sipidan Island in Malaysia having netted the group more than 20 Million US Dollars coutesy of Libya. So much money was floating around in those days that the US Dollar lost half its value on Jolo Island. In the days after the Dos Palmas Kidnapping they must have seriously questioned their decision. Living in the deep bush in Basilan is incredibly difficult since practically all the island's population lives along its coast. Then, being chased to Zamboanga where the infamous Abu Sobaya ended up going down in a fussilade of bullets...well, you get the picture.
The Brothers Kunting chuckked it away for a new life as Robert and Jason Tan, respectively. Now living as Christians they gravitated towards Davao Region and it was there that the AFP's MIGs (Military Intelligence Group) 9 and 11, backed by the 28IB (Infantry Battalion) and the 104th Military Intelligence Company found them on September 23rd, 2011. Living in a non-descript thatched hut (nipa) in the municipality of Mati's Barangay Matiao in Davao Oriental Province, the two were taken on warrants out of Regional Trial Court #9 in Zamboanga City for Illegal Detention and Kidnapping in the Dos Palmas Kidnapping. The past ALWAYS catches up with you.
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