The Lim Clan on the Zamboanga Peninsula are one of Mindanao's most storied political dynasties. Migrating like so many Tsinoy, or Filipinos of Chinese descent, from China's Fujian Province, by way of Pagasinan on Luzon, the clan patriarch settled in Zamboanga City. It was his grandson, Luis G. Lim who became the peninsula's first civilian governor in 1914. His nephew, Roseller T. Lim, the man responsible for dividing the peninsula into two provinces, Zamboanga del Norte, and Zamboanga del Sur, is perhaps the peninsula's best know historical figure. The Lim Clan's presence on the Zamboangan political stage continues into the present.
The municipality of Salug, in Zamboanga del Norte Province, began life as an isolated sitio in what was then the municipality of Sindanngan's Barangay Liloy. Liloy became a full fledged town itself in 1951, within which Sitio Salug now became a barrio (the antecedent of today's "barangay"). Finally, Salug was itself emancipated as a full fledged municipality in 1979. The Lim Clan has played a significant role in the town since its creation. Current Mayor, Jeffrey Tan Lim, won election in 2010, suceeding his father, Jesus Nantes Lim. At age 36, Jeffrey Tan Lim was eager to make his own mark and come out from under his father's shadow.
The construction of a new municipal bus terminal in Barangay Poblacion was one accomplishment the new mayor was particularly fond of. In fact, most evenings found the Mayor and his immediate family enjoying their supper in one of the terminal's small eateries. After all, the terminal sits a mere 200 meters from his office in the municipal hall. On April 2nd, 2012, Mayor Lim had just enjoyed an afternoon tennis match with some longtime friends of his and was returning to the municipal hall to shower and change before once again joining his wife and children for a late evening supper in the bus terminal.
At just past 7PM a yellow minivan came to a stop in front of Mayor Lim. A man wearing camoflauge pants and a blue tshirt bearing the word "Pulis" (police) dismounted from the truck and quickly approached the Mayor. Carrying a manila folder the man then tersely informed him that he was serving an arrest warrant on him and warned Mayor Lim not to resist. Shocked, but in full possesion of his faculties, Mayor Lim asked to examine the warrant, saying he was going to confer with his own MPO, or Municipal Police Office. The "police officer" serving the warrant then gave a hand signal, at which point the four men in identical attire dismounted from the van and quickly moved in, grabbing Lim who was only then subdued after a fierce, albeit short struggle.
Naturally, word immediately reached the municipal hall, after all, three townspeople had been walking past Lim when it happened. A flurry of calls were made trying to ascertain the nature of the supposed arrest warrant. By the time Lim's colleagues realised that there was no warrant, the multicab had made its way into the town's Barangay Mucas where it quickly discharged Lim and his captors before it sped off into Barangay Caracol where it was burned as a diversion.
Dragged aboard one of two idling white pumpboats, Lim and his captors skirted the coast past the adjacent municipality of Labson, before veering off coast towards Sacol Island, an offshore territory belonging to Zamboanga City. Although Mayor Lim was undoubtedly clueless, he had become the latest KFR, or Kidnap for Ransom victim of the BIAF 113 Base Command. The BIAF, or Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, are the armed wing of the MILF. Because the MILF provides precious little material support to the military wing, the nineteen Base Commands, analogous to a "brigade" in a conventional armed force, have had to become creative with regard to fund raising. The 113 Base Command, with operational control over the entire Zamboanga Peninsula, except for Zamboanga City, has become the leading Base Command in the KFR Industry. Ironically, the 113's overall commander, Alroy Alsree, was close to Lim when the Mayor was growing up. As luck would have it, Alsree died a week later of natural causes and Lim's existence became that much more precarious.
Mayor Lim had been kidnapped by a subordinate of Alsree's, sub-Kumander Latip "Rajamuda" Jamat, and Jamat's second in command, Latip Tatutan. Taken to Sacol Island Lim was then sold to the BIAF 114 Base Command which in turn transported Mayor Lim to Basilan Province. Once on Basilan, an island 17 kilometers off of Zamboanga City, Lim was transported to Barangay Baiwas in the municipality of Sumisip. There he was sold to the ASG, or Abu Sayyaf Group, and its leading faction on Basilan, that of Kumander Puruji Indama.
After being purchased by ASG Lim was seen in tandem with Australian KFR victim, Warren Rodwell, though the two were soon seperated to prevent the loss of both captives in the face of AFP, or Armed Forces of the Philippines "rescue operations."
Showing posts with label 113 Base Command. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 113 Base Command. Show all posts
Friday, June 22, 2012
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Kidnap for Ransom for the First Quarter of 2012, Part II: The Release of Frank Oliver Tam Lim
Readers may recall that a "Fourth Quarter of 2011" entry outlined the BIAF 113 Base Command's KFR, or Kidnap for Ransom, of 32 year old Frank Oliver Tam Lim. The BIAF, or Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, the armed wing of the MILF, sometimes funds its armed insurgency via KFR. Indeed, the 113 Base Commamd is first and foremost amongst all BIAF Base Commands in this endeavour.
Lim, a Tsinoy, or Filipino of Chinese descent, is the son and namesake of a multi-millionaire who, among other things, owns a Jollibee fastfood franchise in Pagadian City. Lim himself owns Fresh Harvest Farms, a poultry operation in Dipolog City's Barangay Gulayon. On October 27th, 2011, Lim and his brother John Patrick Tam Lim, had just left National Hiway and had turned onto the farm's dirt access road when a van full of BIAF guerillas pulled in behind them. When the Lims were forced to stop to negotiate the farm's locked gate, the guerillas dismounted and rushed the Lims. John Patrick managed to escape, running through a rice paddy, as Frank was snatched out of his front seat and dragged into oblivion.
On February 21st, 2012, Lim Clansman and the family's chosen negotiator, Wendell Lim, handed over a ransom of P600,000 ($12,000) to his BIAF counterpart and was told to wait for a phone call later that evening. Finally, at just after midnite, February 22nd, Wendell Lim was instructed to proceed to the municipality of Molave, in Zamboanga del Sur Province where he was told to sit tight and await further instructions. Arriving in Molave just before 1AM, Wendell was told to drive to the Zamboanga del Sur Electric Co-operative, known to most as ZAMSURECO. It was there, in front of the co-operative at 120AM that Frank Oliver Lim was released to his kin.
Lim, a Tsinoy, or Filipino of Chinese descent, is the son and namesake of a multi-millionaire who, among other things, owns a Jollibee fastfood franchise in Pagadian City. Lim himself owns Fresh Harvest Farms, a poultry operation in Dipolog City's Barangay Gulayon. On October 27th, 2011, Lim and his brother John Patrick Tam Lim, had just left National Hiway and had turned onto the farm's dirt access road when a van full of BIAF guerillas pulled in behind them. When the Lims were forced to stop to negotiate the farm's locked gate, the guerillas dismounted and rushed the Lims. John Patrick managed to escape, running through a rice paddy, as Frank was snatched out of his front seat and dragged into oblivion.
On February 21st, 2012, Lim Clansman and the family's chosen negotiator, Wendell Lim, handed over a ransom of P600,000 ($12,000) to his BIAF counterpart and was told to wait for a phone call later that evening. Finally, at just after midnite, February 22nd, Wendell Lim was instructed to proceed to the municipality of Molave, in Zamboanga del Sur Province where he was told to sit tight and await further instructions. Arriving in Molave just before 1AM, Wendell was told to drive to the Zamboanga del Sur Electric Co-operative, known to most as ZAMSURECO. It was there, in front of the co-operative at 120AM that Frank Oliver Lim was released to his kin.
Thursday, December 8, 2011
GPH-MILF Peace Process for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part III: The 23rd Exploratory Round in Kuala Lampur, a Big Nothing, Part 1
This summary is not available. Please
click here to view the post.
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Abu Sayyaf Armed Contacts for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part III: Four IEDs in Zamboanga City's Barangay Sangali
On Wednesday, October 26th, 2011, 19 year old Lobeto Ibanez laboured away under the hot sun. As difficult as it was working as a construction labourer in Zamboanga City's Barangay Sangali, it was many times worse to have no job at all. Worst of all would be to have remained in his parents' home in the small municipality of Sindangen, in Zamboanga del Norte Province. At lest this way Lobeto would be earning his own way, even earning enough to help out his poverty stricken family, as they struggled with the weather and the insurgency, trying to wrest a meagre harvest from their rented farm.
Landing work in Zamboanga City, he had been a labourer on a building site where a bank was being built, he spent most evenings just down the street from his job, eating lonely suppers in the small, non-descript roadside eater owned by Paul Toribio. A member of one of Zamboanga City's oldest and richest families, Toribio often felt he had gotten the short end of the stick, working seven days a week, often sixteen hours a day, and yet barely turning a profit. Even then he was being targeted by protection rackets, criminals offering not to destroy his business IF he would simply help his protector out with some pocket money. Toribio refused to oblige his would be benefactor.
On the day in question, October 26th, Lobeto Ibanez finished his long, dusty day and as usual, made his way down the street to Toribio's. Sitting at a table, Ibanez felt his knee brush a large rice sack. Pulling out his chair, Ibanez reached down and discovered that the nylon sack was filled with "camote," a common tuber found and cultivated on Mindanao. Alerting Mr.Toribio's son Jaime, Lobeto was asked to bring it outside the cafe and place it atop the small woodpile out front to make it easier for the customer who left it to retrieve it. Picking up the rice sack Lobeto obliged Jaime Toribio and placed it atop the woodpile. However, curiosity got the best of Lobeto and after making sure the coast was clear, he quickly opened the bag, and in doing so had his head blown off from an extremely powerful IED.
Ironically, as the IED detonated, the Zamboanga City Police Office (CPO), had had its EOD, or, Explosives and Ordnabce Detachment, deployed right around the corner from the cafe, less than 100 meters from that very woodpile. An IED had been left in front of a lottery outlet owned by another member of the Toribio Clan. Two curious bettors had quickly notified the CPO's Police Station #3, which has jurisdiction over Barangay Sangali. Station #3's Chief, Senior Inspector Elmer Acuna immediately phoned CPO Headquarters which in turn deployed the CPO EOD. While that first IED had been safely neutralised with a Water Phased Disruptor (a PAN, or Percussion Acentuated Neutraliser, a blasting cap detonates a bottle of water which then, if one is lucky, shoots into the device which such force as to ruin the wiring, etc.), the second device had killed Lobeto Ibanez and wounded eight people:
1) Jaime Toribio, 50 year old son of the owner of the cafe
2) Romeo Ebang, age 45
3) Rizaldo Rebollos, age 50
4) Natividad Taripe, age 75
5) Marie Karen Medalla, age 18
6) Elbert Manlangit
7) Rosita Toribio, wife of Jaime
8) Dodong Pitik
As the EOD realised that the lottery outlet device was only the first device, they called in a K9 unit from the CPO. The dog and its handler then located a third IED, in front of the barangay health station, a village medical clinic. Located in shrubbery adjacent to the barangay basketball court in front of the clinic. The device was also 100 meters from the woodpile, only in the opposite direction from the lottery outlet. The EOD again used the Water Phased Disruptor to neutralise the device.
Now on edge, the K9 unit spent the overnight period patrolling the vicinity for any other possible devices. At 630AM, on October 27th, a fourth IED was discovered inside a nearby grocery store, Toribio Minigrocery [sic], which, as the name might suggest, happenes to also be owned by the Toribio Clan. This device was likewise neutralised in the same manner. Further searching of Barangay Sangali discovered a fifth IED at 1040AM next to a second cafe owned by the Toribio Clan, "JRJ Toribio Eatery." This last device was neutralised in exactly the same way.
All five IEDs used ANFO payloads. Placed inside a small plastic container, which itself was placed within an aluminum m powdered milk can which was then placed inside a small, black plastic bag, which was then secreted within a nylon rice sack. ANFO, a simple mixture of common fuel oil and ammonium nitrate fertiliser, has become the substance de jour for the Abu Sayyaf. The BIAF, or, Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, as the armed wing of the MILF is known, overwhelmingly utilises Compound B, the payload in undetonated mortar and Howitzer rounds. However, all four devices had a unique, advanced signature. Instead of using radio signals, such as from cellphones, these devices all used a collapsible circuit centering upon LED bulbs, or, Light Emiting Diode light bulbs . The power sources were all 9volt dry cell batteries in which holes had been fashioned so that detonation could occur one of two ways: Either from moving or jostling the rice saxk, which would then case the semi dry material within the battery to drain out, or else by neutralising via clipping the wires. A collapsible circuit detonates of you break the circuit. Philippine IEDs will either be command detonated- as with the NPA, or else they rely on radio frequencies with cellphones as the receiver. The use of a collapsible circuit is upping the ante, a creative bomber has entered the game here on Mindanao.
As for the culprit, the 113 Base Command's sub-Kumander Waning Abdusalam has been targeting the Toribio Clan for near on a decade. Yet, as noted in my previous Abu Sayyaf Fourth Quarter entry, the Directorate for Integrated Police Operations for Western Mindanao, or, DIPO-W, claims it is the handiwork of the long extinct Abu Sayyaf Urban Terrorist Group. It insisted just after this incident took place that it must be the BIAF, soup de jour.
Landing work in Zamboanga City, he had been a labourer on a building site where a bank was being built, he spent most evenings just down the street from his job, eating lonely suppers in the small, non-descript roadside eater owned by Paul Toribio. A member of one of Zamboanga City's oldest and richest families, Toribio often felt he had gotten the short end of the stick, working seven days a week, often sixteen hours a day, and yet barely turning a profit. Even then he was being targeted by protection rackets, criminals offering not to destroy his business IF he would simply help his protector out with some pocket money. Toribio refused to oblige his would be benefactor.
On the day in question, October 26th, Lobeto Ibanez finished his long, dusty day and as usual, made his way down the street to Toribio's. Sitting at a table, Ibanez felt his knee brush a large rice sack. Pulling out his chair, Ibanez reached down and discovered that the nylon sack was filled with "camote," a common tuber found and cultivated on Mindanao. Alerting Mr.Toribio's son Jaime, Lobeto was asked to bring it outside the cafe and place it atop the small woodpile out front to make it easier for the customer who left it to retrieve it. Picking up the rice sack Lobeto obliged Jaime Toribio and placed it atop the woodpile. However, curiosity got the best of Lobeto and after making sure the coast was clear, he quickly opened the bag, and in doing so had his head blown off from an extremely powerful IED.
Ironically, as the IED detonated, the Zamboanga City Police Office (CPO), had had its EOD, or, Explosives and Ordnabce Detachment, deployed right around the corner from the cafe, less than 100 meters from that very woodpile. An IED had been left in front of a lottery outlet owned by another member of the Toribio Clan. Two curious bettors had quickly notified the CPO's Police Station #3, which has jurisdiction over Barangay Sangali. Station #3's Chief, Senior Inspector Elmer Acuna immediately phoned CPO Headquarters which in turn deployed the CPO EOD. While that first IED had been safely neutralised with a Water Phased Disruptor (a PAN, or Percussion Acentuated Neutraliser, a blasting cap detonates a bottle of water which then, if one is lucky, shoots into the device which such force as to ruin the wiring, etc.), the second device had killed Lobeto Ibanez and wounded eight people:
1) Jaime Toribio, 50 year old son of the owner of the cafe
2) Romeo Ebang, age 45
3) Rizaldo Rebollos, age 50
4) Natividad Taripe, age 75
5) Marie Karen Medalla, age 18
6) Elbert Manlangit
7) Rosita Toribio, wife of Jaime
8) Dodong Pitik
As the EOD realised that the lottery outlet device was only the first device, they called in a K9 unit from the CPO. The dog and its handler then located a third IED, in front of the barangay health station, a village medical clinic. Located in shrubbery adjacent to the barangay basketball court in front of the clinic. The device was also 100 meters from the woodpile, only in the opposite direction from the lottery outlet. The EOD again used the Water Phased Disruptor to neutralise the device.
Now on edge, the K9 unit spent the overnight period patrolling the vicinity for any other possible devices. At 630AM, on October 27th, a fourth IED was discovered inside a nearby grocery store, Toribio Minigrocery [sic], which, as the name might suggest, happenes to also be owned by the Toribio Clan. This device was likewise neutralised in the same manner. Further searching of Barangay Sangali discovered a fifth IED at 1040AM next to a second cafe owned by the Toribio Clan, "JRJ Toribio Eatery." This last device was neutralised in exactly the same way.
All five IEDs used ANFO payloads. Placed inside a small plastic container, which itself was placed within an aluminum m powdered milk can which was then placed inside a small, black plastic bag, which was then secreted within a nylon rice sack. ANFO, a simple mixture of common fuel oil and ammonium nitrate fertiliser, has become the substance de jour for the Abu Sayyaf. The BIAF, or, Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, as the armed wing of the MILF is known, overwhelmingly utilises Compound B, the payload in undetonated mortar and Howitzer rounds. However, all four devices had a unique, advanced signature. Instead of using radio signals, such as from cellphones, these devices all used a collapsible circuit centering upon LED bulbs, or, Light Emiting Diode light bulbs . The power sources were all 9volt dry cell batteries in which holes had been fashioned so that detonation could occur one of two ways: Either from moving or jostling the rice saxk, which would then case the semi dry material within the battery to drain out, or else by neutralising via clipping the wires. A collapsible circuit detonates of you break the circuit. Philippine IEDs will either be command detonated- as with the NPA, or else they rely on radio frequencies with cellphones as the receiver. The use of a collapsible circuit is upping the ante, a creative bomber has entered the game here on Mindanao.
As for the culprit, the 113 Base Command's sub-Kumander Waning Abdusalam has been targeting the Toribio Clan for near on a decade. Yet, as noted in my previous Abu Sayyaf Fourth Quarter entry, the Directorate for Integrated Police Operations for Western Mindanao, or, DIPO-W, claims it is the handiwork of the long extinct Abu Sayyaf Urban Terrorist Group. It insisted just after this incident took place that it must be the BIAF, soup de jour.
Abu Sayyaf Armed Contacts for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part II: Resurrection of the Abu Sayyaf 4
This summary is not available. Please
click here to view the post.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Abu Sayyaf Armed Contacts for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part II: The Resurrection of the Abu Sayyaf Urban Terrorist Group, Part 3
In my preceding entry in this four part series, "Part 2," I discussed just how the media invention known as the "Abu Sayyaf Urban Terrorist Group came into existence. From Abu Sayyaf's 1988 inception with founder Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani, to his death at the hands of the PNP SAF, or, Philippine National Police Special Action Force, in 1998, to the different factions doing battle to claim the Abu Sayyaf's empire of dust. Likewise, I described how Abdurajak's younger brother Khadaffy tried to lead the group without much success, and how a faction under Amilhamsa Antal Sali Jr., better known by the moniker "Kumander Kosovo," ended up operating in Zamboanga City on Mainland Mindanao. After Kosovo's downfall and incarceration in New Bilibid Prison in Metro Manila's Muntilupa City on Luzon (he died on the second day of a two day prison uprising there that he led on March 14th and 15th of 2005), his small operation came under the control of Zamboanga City native Amiljamsa Ajijul, known by the nom de guerre, "Abu Alex Alvarez." Noting how Ajijul was mortally wounded during a police operation in September of 2006, that killed his father Andalul as well, I discussed how even this tiny group of no more than nine members factionalised as well.
**********************************************************************************************************
Shortly after Alihamja Ajijul and his father Andalul were killed in 2006, younger son Abdullah, known as "Abu Termiji," assumed control of what was by then an eight man extortion outfit wielding the "Abu Sayyaf" name strictly for show. What better way to get your point across than to sign your threatening letter with that most threatening of names, "Abu Sayyaf"? Unfortunately for Abu Termiji however, his chance to shine only lasted so long before his small group grew even smaller. In the interim between taking the reins of power eight months before, Abdullah had diversified into KFR, or Kidnap for Ransom, assisting the larger faction of Puruji "Boy Sapodek" Indama in the kidnapping of three public school teachers on the water between Zamboanga City's Barangay Arena Blanco, and that barangay's offshore island of Landang Guia on January 23rd, 2009.
The three kidnapped eachers:
1) Rafael Mayonado, age 22,
2) Janette de los Reyes, 27,
3) Quiozon Freires, 29,
were together with a fourth teacher and the boat's operator aboard a motorbanca- Philippine-speak for a motorised wooden skiff- travelling to Landang Guia Island, where all four taught at the island's public highschool, "Arena Blanco National Highschool- Landang Guia Annex." Less than two kilometers off of the coast of the city, they were overtaken by a faster boat carrying four BIAF gunmen from the 113 Base Command. The BIAF, or, Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces as the armed wing of the MILF is known, had been fed intelligence by none other than Puruji "Boy Sapodek" Indama, courtesy of Abdullah "Abu Termiji" Ijijul and his band of cretins.
The 113 Base Command, with operational control over the entire Zamboanga Peninsula and SOME of its offshore islets, is one of a few BIAF Base Commands that dips and dabbles in the KFR trade. Actually, the 113 is the leading BIAF formation in the kidnapping industry. Two sub-Kumanders control most of the kidnappings on the Zamboanga Peninsula:
1) Kamsa Asdanal, disowned by the MILF Central Committee, which claims he is a pirate, et cetera and so forth. Kamsa operates on the peninsula but has small camps on both Olutanga and Sacol Islands
2) Waning Abdusalam, headquartered in the municipality of Payao, in Zamboanga Sibugay Province, until the end of October, 2011, when the AFP, or, Armed Forces of the Philippines, captured his main camp in retaliation for his having had an AFP major and his wife both shot between the eyes and burned during an act of retaliation against Rural Transit Bus Lines, a bus company he has been terrorising for years.
The three teachers were kidnapped while the fourth was left aboard the motorbanca with the boat's operator as the BIAF changed course heading towards Olutanga Island off of Zamboanga Sibugay Province. The 113 Base Command then sold the three kidnsppto the BIAF's 114 Base Command, on Basilan, who then sold the three to the Abu Sayyaf's leading faction on Basilan, that of Puruji Indama so that although Indama planned the entire cqper. Although three more teachers had been kidnapped not long after, on March 13th, 2009, also by sub-Kumander Kamsa Asdanal of the 113 Base Command:
1) Jocelyn Enriquez, 43
2) Jocelyn Inion, 39
3) Noemi Mandi 34
Abdullah Ajijul and his small group had absolutely nothing to do with it. In any event, the small group found much greener pastures on Basilan, relocating there over the Summer of 2009, although four men soon grew tired of the constant life on the run and living in the rough. By July, Abdulkhalil Mallah had taken three men and said "Adios." In retrospect, at least for the short term, Mallah, who much preferred to be called "Ibni Acosta," must have been glad he had done so, for on November 18th, 2009, Abdullah Ajijul was killed in a firefight with the AFP in the municipality of Sumisip, as the AFP moved against the Abu Sayyaf in its on again- off again encampment in that town's Sitio Bakisong, in Barangay Cambug. What little remained of his group, three men including Abdullah's son, Ramjay Ijijul.
Abdulkahil Mallah didn't have much time to think deeply about such things because by the time his ex-leader met his own sad demise, Mallah had already been sitting on the IS-AFP hotseat for a solid month. As with those before him, it wasn't long before Abdulkhalil Mallah ran afoul of local authorities and with three of his fellow Abu Sayyaf guerillas,fled south. Instead of heading to Jolo Island as is the case with most Abu Sayyaf members who end up turning tail south, he led his men to the promised land of Tawi Tawi. There Mallah played house while dispatching followers to and fro between Tawi Tawi and Zamboanga City to keep the group's extortion ledgers current.
Still, eventually one of Mallah's followers ran afoul of the local powers that be in Tawi Tawi's capital of Bongao. On Saturday night, October 8th, 2009 Mallah and three of his men got into a brief but intense firefight in Bongao's Barangay Tubig Tanah. As the other side withdrew down Kalye Bisaya, in the adjacent barangay of Kasanyangan, Mallah had his men clear out all their belongings from their shared home in Sitio Kasulutan and set off for the Bongao Municipal Pier. It was on the pier, as the Zamboanga City-bound ferry pulled up to the dock, that the AFP's MBLT-2- that same MBLT-2- recognised Mallah as the detachment's Marines provided security for the ferry arrival. With a serious wound above his collar bone Abdulkahil Mallah naturally attracted attention.
Charged with twenty-one counts of Kidnapping, Mallah got a free ride north but not on the ferry. Instead he was bundled aboard a Philippine Air Force (PAF) Huey (UH-1H) for a hop, skip, and a jump to Jolo City where he was then transferred to an AC-130 and shipped to IS-AFP Headquarters at AFP Headquarters, at Fort Bonifacio in Metro Manila's Quezon City. There Mallah enjoyed the hospitality that only the IS-AFP can provide as he was subjected to tactical interrogation. There Mallah would perhaps even feel lucky to have been tortured, considering what had happened to Abdullah Ajijul.
Back in Zamboanga City, Abdullah's son Ramjay began trying to salvage what was left of the family business, but alas, what is dead is dead, and what is buried is buried. While one can find an occasional arrest of an Abu Sayyaf member within the borders of Zamboanga City, it is usually only because the subject is transiting the city on their way to and from their homes in Basilann Jolo, or Tawi Tawi and Manila. After all, Zamboanga City IS the regional population centre and the only airport connecting with Manila for the Filipinos living in the three aforementioned island provinces of Mindanao. Of course extortion and KFR continues to plague the city just it has ever since the Subunan Tribesmen first arrived from Indonesia. It must be said that part of the activity is the handiwork of the Abu Sayyaf, while most of the rest is split between the two aforementioned Base Commamds of the BIAF, the 113th and the 114th. Like Davao City far to the south, Zamboanga City is an "open city" in which anyone and everyone willing to engage in nefarious act can- and often does.
******************************************************************************************************************
In thr fourth and final part I will cover a recent event in Zamboanga City in which the authorities blamed the Abu Sayyaf Group Urban Terrorist Group, or ASG-UTG.
**********************************************************************************************************
Shortly after Alihamja Ajijul and his father Andalul were killed in 2006, younger son Abdullah, known as "Abu Termiji," assumed control of what was by then an eight man extortion outfit wielding the "Abu Sayyaf" name strictly for show. What better way to get your point across than to sign your threatening letter with that most threatening of names, "Abu Sayyaf"? Unfortunately for Abu Termiji however, his chance to shine only lasted so long before his small group grew even smaller. In the interim between taking the reins of power eight months before, Abdullah had diversified into KFR, or Kidnap for Ransom, assisting the larger faction of Puruji "Boy Sapodek" Indama in the kidnapping of three public school teachers on the water between Zamboanga City's Barangay Arena Blanco, and that barangay's offshore island of Landang Guia on January 23rd, 2009.
The three kidnapped eachers:
1) Rafael Mayonado, age 22,
2) Janette de los Reyes, 27,
3) Quiozon Freires, 29,
were together with a fourth teacher and the boat's operator aboard a motorbanca- Philippine-speak for a motorised wooden skiff- travelling to Landang Guia Island, where all four taught at the island's public highschool, "Arena Blanco National Highschool- Landang Guia Annex." Less than two kilometers off of the coast of the city, they were overtaken by a faster boat carrying four BIAF gunmen from the 113 Base Command. The BIAF, or, Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces as the armed wing of the MILF is known, had been fed intelligence by none other than Puruji "Boy Sapodek" Indama, courtesy of Abdullah "Abu Termiji" Ijijul and his band of cretins.
The 113 Base Command, with operational control over the entire Zamboanga Peninsula and SOME of its offshore islets, is one of a few BIAF Base Commands that dips and dabbles in the KFR trade. Actually, the 113 is the leading BIAF formation in the kidnapping industry. Two sub-Kumanders control most of the kidnappings on the Zamboanga Peninsula:
1) Kamsa Asdanal, disowned by the MILF Central Committee, which claims he is a pirate, et cetera and so forth. Kamsa operates on the peninsula but has small camps on both Olutanga and Sacol Islands
2) Waning Abdusalam, headquartered in the municipality of Payao, in Zamboanga Sibugay Province, until the end of October, 2011, when the AFP, or, Armed Forces of the Philippines, captured his main camp in retaliation for his having had an AFP major and his wife both shot between the eyes and burned during an act of retaliation against Rural Transit Bus Lines, a bus company he has been terrorising for years.
The three teachers were kidnapped while the fourth was left aboard the motorbanca with the boat's operator as the BIAF changed course heading towards Olutanga Island off of Zamboanga Sibugay Province. The 113 Base Command then sold the three kidnsppto the BIAF's 114 Base Command, on Basilan, who then sold the three to the Abu Sayyaf's leading faction on Basilan, that of Puruji Indama so that although Indama planned the entire cqper. Although three more teachers had been kidnapped not long after, on March 13th, 2009, also by sub-Kumander Kamsa Asdanal of the 113 Base Command:
1) Jocelyn Enriquez, 43
2) Jocelyn Inion, 39
3) Noemi Mandi 34
Abdullah Ajijul and his small group had absolutely nothing to do with it. In any event, the small group found much greener pastures on Basilan, relocating there over the Summer of 2009, although four men soon grew tired of the constant life on the run and living in the rough. By July, Abdulkhalil Mallah had taken three men and said "Adios." In retrospect, at least for the short term, Mallah, who much preferred to be called "Ibni Acosta," must have been glad he had done so, for on November 18th, 2009, Abdullah Ajijul was killed in a firefight with the AFP in the municipality of Sumisip, as the AFP moved against the Abu Sayyaf in its on again- off again encampment in that town's Sitio Bakisong, in Barangay Cambug. What little remained of his group, three men including Abdullah's son, Ramjay Ijijul.
Abdulkahil Mallah didn't have much time to think deeply about such things because by the time his ex-leader met his own sad demise, Mallah had already been sitting on the IS-AFP hotseat for a solid month. As with those before him, it wasn't long before Abdulkhalil Mallah ran afoul of local authorities and with three of his fellow Abu Sayyaf guerillas,fled south. Instead of heading to Jolo Island as is the case with most Abu Sayyaf members who end up turning tail south, he led his men to the promised land of Tawi Tawi. There Mallah played house while dispatching followers to and fro between Tawi Tawi and Zamboanga City to keep the group's extortion ledgers current.
Still, eventually one of Mallah's followers ran afoul of the local powers that be in Tawi Tawi's capital of Bongao. On Saturday night, October 8th, 2009 Mallah and three of his men got into a brief but intense firefight in Bongao's Barangay Tubig Tanah. As the other side withdrew down Kalye Bisaya, in the adjacent barangay of Kasanyangan, Mallah had his men clear out all their belongings from their shared home in Sitio Kasulutan and set off for the Bongao Municipal Pier. It was on the pier, as the Zamboanga City-bound ferry pulled up to the dock, that the AFP's MBLT-2- that same MBLT-2- recognised Mallah as the detachment's Marines provided security for the ferry arrival. With a serious wound above his collar bone Abdulkahil Mallah naturally attracted attention.
Charged with twenty-one counts of Kidnapping, Mallah got a free ride north but not on the ferry. Instead he was bundled aboard a Philippine Air Force (PAF) Huey (UH-1H) for a hop, skip, and a jump to Jolo City where he was then transferred to an AC-130 and shipped to IS-AFP Headquarters at AFP Headquarters, at Fort Bonifacio in Metro Manila's Quezon City. There Mallah enjoyed the hospitality that only the IS-AFP can provide as he was subjected to tactical interrogation. There Mallah would perhaps even feel lucky to have been tortured, considering what had happened to Abdullah Ajijul.
Back in Zamboanga City, Abdullah's son Ramjay began trying to salvage what was left of the family business, but alas, what is dead is dead, and what is buried is buried. While one can find an occasional arrest of an Abu Sayyaf member within the borders of Zamboanga City, it is usually only because the subject is transiting the city on their way to and from their homes in Basilann Jolo, or Tawi Tawi and Manila. After all, Zamboanga City IS the regional population centre and the only airport connecting with Manila for the Filipinos living in the three aforementioned island provinces of Mindanao. Of course extortion and KFR continues to plague the city just it has ever since the Subunan Tribesmen first arrived from Indonesia. It must be said that part of the activity is the handiwork of the Abu Sayyaf, while most of the rest is split between the two aforementioned Base Commamds of the BIAF, the 113th and the 114th. Like Davao City far to the south, Zamboanga City is an "open city" in which anyone and everyone willing to engage in nefarious act can- and often does.
******************************************************************************************************************
In thr fourth and final part I will cover a recent event in Zamboanga City in which the authorities blamed the Abu Sayyaf Group Urban Terrorist Group, or ASG-UTG.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
Kidnap for Ransom for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, PartXI: The Release of Three Koreans on the Lanao Border and the Execution of One Filipino on Lake Lanao
In my entry, "Kidnap for Ransom for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part VIII," I discussed six treasure hunters, three South Koreans and three Filipinos whose local guide led them right into a KFR, or, Kidnap for Ransom. The three Koreans:
1) Kim Nam Doo, age 48
2) Woo Seok Bong, age 60
3) In Choi Soo, age 53
checked into the Cagayan de Oro City's Miami Inn, a local hotel in Misamis Oriental Province, on October 20th, 2011. There they rendevouzed with their three local "partners":
1) Junie Ongie, of El Salvador, a municipality in that same province of Misamis Oriental
2) Nestor Modejar, of Barobo, a town in Surigao del Sur Province
and an unnamed third man, reputedly an "engineer" from the municipality of Parang, in Maguindanao Province. The six were met by a Maranaw (Maranaoan) Tribesmen who they had hired as their local guide for the Lanao del Norte and Misamis Occidental Provincial border region. Arriving at the hotel the guide had unexpectedly brought along two other Maranaw. Together the nine men left and instead of traveling to the borders of Lanao del Norte Province and Misamis Occidental Province, they ended up on the south shore of Lake Lanao, a place rife with KFR activity.
When the Koreans hadn't returned to the Miami Inn by October 31st, its manager reported the men as missing at the CPO, or City Police Office. This was the first authorities had heard of the incident although the kidnappers had been negotiating with the Koreans' families since just after their abduction. Initially demanding a package deal of P50 Million ($1.1 Million) for the three Koreans, calls had come regularly as the families did their best to maintain regular contact, parrying with kidnappers demands. Since the kidnappers had been communicating using their victims' cellphones. Which, unlike nearly all Philippine cellphones, are not prepaid devices, the families were able to use the frequent calls towards their advantage. Soon after receiving the initial telephone calls, two of the Koreans families had immediately gone to their local police stations which in turn almost immediately led to the South Korean Government involving itself. Triangulating (extrapolating) the cellphone signals allowed unofficial South Korean Government "investigators," a euphanism for Intelligence Agents, to zero in on the kidnapper's location, which as suspected, was almost exactly on the south shore of Lake Lanao.
The agents also zeroed in on the kidnappers' negotiator, Jhonny [sic] Tawan-Tawan, the former Mayor of Salvador, a municipality in Lanao del Norte Province, directly abutting the Lanao del Sur border. After learning that the management at the Miami Inn had contacted Philippine authorities the South Korean Government offered to liason with the local authorities handling the case. The actual kidnappers themselves are led by sub-Kumander Pogi of the BIAF, or, Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces as the armed wing of the MILF is known. A member of the 101 Base Command based in the town of Wao in Lanao del Norte Province, Pogi hopes to cash in on all the ransoms being collected by the adjacent 113 Base Command. When a much more reasonable P1 Million ($21,000) was offered in a package deal that would lead to the release of all three Koreans, the Korean Government accepted the terms.
On Thursdat, November 24th, one of the Koreans, Choi In Soo, was released on the border of Barangay Deguyanan in the municipality of Madamba in Lanao del Sur Province and the municipality of Salvador's Barangay Kalimudan in Lanao del Norte Province where the ever helpful ex-Mayor of Salvador, Jhonny Tawan-Tawan delivered a seriously ill Mr.Choi to soldiers from Task Force Ranaw. Choi, suffering for internal bleeding related to a stomach ulcer was rushed to Marawi City, home of the Task Force, where he was immediately operated on. After four hours he was wheeled out and is hopefully well on the road to revocery.
Mr.Choi had been released prior to the ransom handover because of his ill health. His two fellow South Koreans, Mr.Woo and Mr.Kim were released 21 hours later in Salvador, after a soldier from the Task Force delivered the full ransom on behalf of the South Korean Government.
As for the three Filipino captives, Mr.Modejar was executed after five days in captivity although his remains have yet to be recovered. The murder took place after his family truthfully explained that they were peasants and barely had enough money to buy rice each day. As for the other two, they are still being held as their families work to save each of them.
1) Kim Nam Doo, age 48
2) Woo Seok Bong, age 60
3) In Choi Soo, age 53
checked into the Cagayan de Oro City's Miami Inn, a local hotel in Misamis Oriental Province, on October 20th, 2011. There they rendevouzed with their three local "partners":
1) Junie Ongie, of El Salvador, a municipality in that same province of Misamis Oriental
2) Nestor Modejar, of Barobo, a town in Surigao del Sur Province
and an unnamed third man, reputedly an "engineer" from the municipality of Parang, in Maguindanao Province. The six were met by a Maranaw (Maranaoan) Tribesmen who they had hired as their local guide for the Lanao del Norte and Misamis Occidental Provincial border region. Arriving at the hotel the guide had unexpectedly brought along two other Maranaw. Together the nine men left and instead of traveling to the borders of Lanao del Norte Province and Misamis Occidental Province, they ended up on the south shore of Lake Lanao, a place rife with KFR activity.
When the Koreans hadn't returned to the Miami Inn by October 31st, its manager reported the men as missing at the CPO, or City Police Office. This was the first authorities had heard of the incident although the kidnappers had been negotiating with the Koreans' families since just after their abduction. Initially demanding a package deal of P50 Million ($1.1 Million) for the three Koreans, calls had come regularly as the families did their best to maintain regular contact, parrying with kidnappers demands. Since the kidnappers had been communicating using their victims' cellphones. Which, unlike nearly all Philippine cellphones, are not prepaid devices, the families were able to use the frequent calls towards their advantage. Soon after receiving the initial telephone calls, two of the Koreans families had immediately gone to their local police stations which in turn almost immediately led to the South Korean Government involving itself. Triangulating (extrapolating) the cellphone signals allowed unofficial South Korean Government "investigators," a euphanism for Intelligence Agents, to zero in on the kidnapper's location, which as suspected, was almost exactly on the south shore of Lake Lanao.
The agents also zeroed in on the kidnappers' negotiator, Jhonny [sic] Tawan-Tawan, the former Mayor of Salvador, a municipality in Lanao del Norte Province, directly abutting the Lanao del Sur border. After learning that the management at the Miami Inn had contacted Philippine authorities the South Korean Government offered to liason with the local authorities handling the case. The actual kidnappers themselves are led by sub-Kumander Pogi of the BIAF, or, Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces as the armed wing of the MILF is known. A member of the 101 Base Command based in the town of Wao in Lanao del Norte Province, Pogi hopes to cash in on all the ransoms being collected by the adjacent 113 Base Command. When a much more reasonable P1 Million ($21,000) was offered in a package deal that would lead to the release of all three Koreans, the Korean Government accepted the terms.
On Thursdat, November 24th, one of the Koreans, Choi In Soo, was released on the border of Barangay Deguyanan in the municipality of Madamba in Lanao del Sur Province and the municipality of Salvador's Barangay Kalimudan in Lanao del Norte Province where the ever helpful ex-Mayor of Salvador, Jhonny Tawan-Tawan delivered a seriously ill Mr.Choi to soldiers from Task Force Ranaw. Choi, suffering for internal bleeding related to a stomach ulcer was rushed to Marawi City, home of the Task Force, where he was immediately operated on. After four hours he was wheeled out and is hopefully well on the road to revocery.
Mr.Choi had been released prior to the ransom handover because of his ill health. His two fellow South Koreans, Mr.Woo and Mr.Kim were released 21 hours later in Salvador, after a soldier from the Task Force delivered the full ransom on behalf of the South Korean Government.
As for the three Filipino captives, Mr.Modejar was executed after five days in captivity although his remains have yet to be recovered. The murder took place after his family truthfully explained that they were peasants and barely had enough money to buy rice each day. As for the other two, they are still being held as their families work to save each of them.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Kidnap for Ransom for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part IX: The Release of Monaliza Almonte Kapa
As noted in "Kidnap for Ransom for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part V," Monaliza Almonte Kapa was kidnapped by the BIAF 113 Base Command, the BIAF being the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, as the armed wing of the MILF is known. The 113 Base Command, the BIAF formation with operational control over the entire Zamboanga Peninsula, save the offshore islands attached to Zamboanga City, primarily earns its keep by KFR, or Kidnap for Ransom, and to a slightly lesser extent, by extortion. Indeed, it was this particular kidnapping that directly set in motion that hugely expencive Military operation in late October and early November, that accomplished nothing other then capturing a former MNLF camp in the municipality of Payao, in Zamboanga Sibugay Province.
As noted in a recent "MILF Armed Contacts for the Fourth Quarter of 2011" entry, Payao had been a long time coming and had been on the table since last spring's BIAF attack of a Rural Transit Lines passenger bus in the municipality of Tungawan, also in Zamboanga Sibugay Province. In that attack four guerillas from the 113 Base Command boarded the bus after hailing it near the end of its Ipil to Zamboanga City route. As the bus entered a series of challenging "s" turns in a mountain pass two of the young men stood up and revealed 45 caliber pistols. One of the men suddenly pivoted amd quickly fired a single round through the eyes of one of two CAAs serving as bus marshals. CAAs, or Civilian Active Auxiliaries are members of (almost always) geographically fixed armed reservists. Of the two types of CAAs, SCAAs, or Special CAAs, or privately funded paramilitaries under the employ of private businessmen. In this case, the owner of Rural Transit Lines needed protection for his large fleet and so formed his own paramilitary and employed two CAAs on each bus.
Rural Transit Line needed protection because like virtually any large business on Mindanao, his bus company had been targeted by professional extortion groups, in this case that group was the 113 Base Command although the company is also targeted by the 102 Base Command on its Lanao routes as well. Refusing to pay, Rural has been targeted for six years running now and as such, anyone on a Rural Transit bus is in serious risk of losing their life.
As the young men fired his 45 caliber pistol at the CAA sitting at the rear of the bus a man sitting next to the CAA instinctively reached for his own side arm and was killed along with his wife sitting next to him. That man was Major Julastidi Arasid, the Executive Officer of the 18IB (Infantry Battalion). He and his wife were making their way to Zamboanga City for their 15 year old son's highschool graduation (Philippine students graduate highschool at or slightly before age 16). Afterwards the gunmen and his three colleagues forced everyone off of the bus, including the second CAA who had been shot and wounded as well, and the bus was set afire, burning the remainins of the Major, his wife, and the murdered CAA.
That horrible incident suddenly made the AFP, or Armed Forces of the Philippines, anxious to reign in the man behind the multitude of attacks on Rural, and when they quickly discovered who the culprit was. BIAF sub-Kumander Waning Abdusalam, headquartered in that former MNLF camp in the municipality of Payao, they set their sights upon him. Sadly, it took more than five years of heinous crimes against civilians before the AFP was ready to act but at least they were moving against him.
After three halh hearted attempts, which will be discussed in a piece on this last campaign in Payao that is currently in the pipeline, a fourth was planned in order to try and get a handle on the aforementioned KFR victim, Monaliza Almonte Kapa. The SWAG, or, Naval Special Weapons Attack Group, a Naval Special Forces unit, was deployed off of Payao to prevent Waning Abdusalam from fleeing by water, as well as his possibly receiving re-inforcements. The stated objective was to prevent the 113 Base Command from taking Ms.Kapa off of the Zamboanga Peninsula and onto Basilan. Of course Ms.Kapa had never been taken to Payao. Instead, she had been taken to Olutanga Island where she was sold to the 114 Base Command which then took her to their strongest province, Basilan. It was in and around the municipality of Al Barka that Ms.Kapa had been repeatedly sighted.
Unbeknownst to the kidnappers apparently was that Ms.Kapa, a Muslim, had an uncle, Alimuddin Danganan Bual, a mid-ranking officer in the BIAF. Bual quickly assumed the role of family negotiator and just as quickly overcame the 114 Base Command's opening gambit of a demand for P20 Million ($425,000). Finally, whittling down the ransom to P500,000 ($11,000). The ransom was handed over to a BIAF courier on Thursday, November 17th, 2011, and on Friday evening, at 645PM, Ms.Kapa was released to her uncle on Varela Street in Zamboanga City's downtown area. The uncle immediately delivered by Ms.Kapa to the 102nd Infantry Brigade Headquarters for the requisite de-briefing and cursory medical examination. By midnite Ms.Kapa was back with her husband at their home in the municipality of Pitogo in Zamboanga del Sur Province.
As noted in a recent "MILF Armed Contacts for the Fourth Quarter of 2011" entry, Payao had been a long time coming and had been on the table since last spring's BIAF attack of a Rural Transit Lines passenger bus in the municipality of Tungawan, also in Zamboanga Sibugay Province. In that attack four guerillas from the 113 Base Command boarded the bus after hailing it near the end of its Ipil to Zamboanga City route. As the bus entered a series of challenging "s" turns in a mountain pass two of the young men stood up and revealed 45 caliber pistols. One of the men suddenly pivoted amd quickly fired a single round through the eyes of one of two CAAs serving as bus marshals. CAAs, or Civilian Active Auxiliaries are members of (almost always) geographically fixed armed reservists. Of the two types of CAAs, SCAAs, or Special CAAs, or privately funded paramilitaries under the employ of private businessmen. In this case, the owner of Rural Transit Lines needed protection for his large fleet and so formed his own paramilitary and employed two CAAs on each bus.
Rural Transit Line needed protection because like virtually any large business on Mindanao, his bus company had been targeted by professional extortion groups, in this case that group was the 113 Base Command although the company is also targeted by the 102 Base Command on its Lanao routes as well. Refusing to pay, Rural has been targeted for six years running now and as such, anyone on a Rural Transit bus is in serious risk of losing their life.
As the young men fired his 45 caliber pistol at the CAA sitting at the rear of the bus a man sitting next to the CAA instinctively reached for his own side arm and was killed along with his wife sitting next to him. That man was Major Julastidi Arasid, the Executive Officer of the 18IB (Infantry Battalion). He and his wife were making their way to Zamboanga City for their 15 year old son's highschool graduation (Philippine students graduate highschool at or slightly before age 16). Afterwards the gunmen and his three colleagues forced everyone off of the bus, including the second CAA who had been shot and wounded as well, and the bus was set afire, burning the remainins of the Major, his wife, and the murdered CAA.
That horrible incident suddenly made the AFP, or Armed Forces of the Philippines, anxious to reign in the man behind the multitude of attacks on Rural, and when they quickly discovered who the culprit was. BIAF sub-Kumander Waning Abdusalam, headquartered in that former MNLF camp in the municipality of Payao, they set their sights upon him. Sadly, it took more than five years of heinous crimes against civilians before the AFP was ready to act but at least they were moving against him.
After three halh hearted attempts, which will be discussed in a piece on this last campaign in Payao that is currently in the pipeline, a fourth was planned in order to try and get a handle on the aforementioned KFR victim, Monaliza Almonte Kapa. The SWAG, or, Naval Special Weapons Attack Group, a Naval Special Forces unit, was deployed off of Payao to prevent Waning Abdusalam from fleeing by water, as well as his possibly receiving re-inforcements. The stated objective was to prevent the 113 Base Command from taking Ms.Kapa off of the Zamboanga Peninsula and onto Basilan. Of course Ms.Kapa had never been taken to Payao. Instead, she had been taken to Olutanga Island where she was sold to the 114 Base Command which then took her to their strongest province, Basilan. It was in and around the municipality of Al Barka that Ms.Kapa had been repeatedly sighted.
Unbeknownst to the kidnappers apparently was that Ms.Kapa, a Muslim, had an uncle, Alimuddin Danganan Bual, a mid-ranking officer in the BIAF. Bual quickly assumed the role of family negotiator and just as quickly overcame the 114 Base Command's opening gambit of a demand for P20 Million ($425,000). Finally, whittling down the ransom to P500,000 ($11,000). The ransom was handed over to a BIAF courier on Thursday, November 17th, 2011, and on Friday evening, at 645PM, Ms.Kapa was released to her uncle on Varela Street in Zamboanga City's downtown area. The uncle immediately delivered by Ms.Kapa to the 102nd Infantry Brigade Headquarters for the requisite de-briefing and cursory medical examination. By midnite Ms.Kapa was back with her husband at their home in the municipality of Pitogo in Zamboanga del Sur Province.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Kidnap for Ransom for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part IX: Romnick Jakaria "Escapes"
The July 12th, 2011 KFR, or Kidnap for Ransom of Gerfa Yeatts Lunsmann, her 14 year old son Kevin Erik Lunsmann and her 19 year old nephew Romnick Jakaria made headlines for a few days immediately after the incident took place, until the Government implemented a "news blackout," a euphanism for "overt censorship" over the case. As I noted in two KFR entries, "Kidnapping for the Third Quarter of 2011, Part II" and "Kidnapping for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part I," cases involving foreigners are much more important to both local authorities and the domestic media than the thrice weekly kidnappings of Filipinos. It is understandable that Western-based media sources would tebnd to focus on the kidnapping of Westerners but the Philippine Government and domestic media's obsession with foreigners is a bit more complex.
As I have noted in those two aforementioned entries, Gerfa Yeatts Lunsmann was born Jerpa Usman, to a Samal tribal family on Pangapuyan, a small island technically belonging to Zamboanga City. As a young child she was whisked away to America by a missionary couple who then re-named her Gerfa Yeatts. As an adult she met and married a co-worker at a healthcare corporation, Hiko Lunsmann. Eventually the couple had a son, Kevin Erick, and settled into a rather idyllic routine in a rural Virginia sub-division, in Campbell County.
Ms.Lunsmann had longed for and dreamed of re-kindling her relationship with her birth family, still residing on a group of islands in between Basilan and Zamboanga City. Shortly after Kevin Erik was born Ms.Lunsmann followed through and re-connected with her family. Buying a large lot on Tictabon Island, part of Zamboanga City, she set about constructing a large residential compound with three spacious homes. Not understanding local mores Ms.Lunsmann became irked as more and more members of her large extended family came out of the woodwork asking for money. Not suprisingly Ms.Lunsmann closed the spigot and refused to keep doling out ever increasing sums of cash.
One of those relatives who ended up feeling slighted was her sister Alma Jakaria, who had ended up living on Mamalawi Island, administratively attached to Isabela City on Basilan. On Ms.Lunsmann's latest visit to the Philippines Ms.Jakaria and her 19 year old son Romnick Jakaria arrived at the Tictabon Island compound just two days before Gerfa and Kevin Erick were set to depart for their return trip to the US. Romnick Jakaria however, is a member of the BIAF, or Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, as the military wing of the MILF is known, a guerilla in its 114 Base Command. Despite being related to Ms.Lunsmann he led a kidnapping team from the 113 Base Command, under sub-Kumander Waning Abdusalam, who until two weeks ago operated out of the municipality of Payao, in Zamboanga Sibugay Province.
Although the 114 Base Command is quite capable on its own, certain islands are within the jurisdiction of the 113 and so it was a joint operation. The 113 Base Command took its two captives, Gerfa Lunsmann and her son Kevin Erik and delivered them to a detachment of the 114 Base Command waiting in Basilan. Jakaria was of course reportedly a kidnap victim as well but just two days later was back on Mamalawi Island hanging out in the open, only heading into Basilan Proper when he received word the a composite detachment of police and soldiers were accompanying his mother Alma to Mamalawi to investigate Romnick's reported presence there.
Ms.Lunsmann was released on October 3rd, after an initial ransom payment was given to MILF representatives. Kevin Erik though remained behind in an interesting development given that most parents would opt to release their children before themselves and yet it is completely understandable given the BIAF propencity to rape female victims.
On Saturday, November 12th Romnick Jakaria had a barangay councilor, Ariel Laping, from Barangay Tubigan in the municipality of Maluso, broker his surrender to an AFP, or Armed Forces of the Philippines Corporal Lazo, who as a Cadre Officer commands that barangay's CAFGU detachment (CAFGU, or Civilian Armed Force Geographical Unit, the primary entity in the AFP's paramilitary programme known as CAAs, or Civilian Active Auxilaries). Coporal Lazo then delivered Jakaria to an AFP garrison in Barangay Abong- Abong. The AFP then told two different stories, both of which had Jakaria as a victim. The first story had Jakaria sneaking away from his BIAF captors after they fell asleep, due to the AFP's relentless operational pursuit, "Perhaps the kidnappers were exhausted after running around..."- Colonel Ricardo Visaya, Commanding Officer of the 104th Infantry Brigade.
The second story had the AFP's Scout Rangers hounding the BIAF until they simply released Jakaria to get some rest. Suuuuuure. Meanwhile, both stories had Jakaria undergoing "questioning," as in interrogation and NOT debriefing. Kevin Erik Lunsmann remains in captivity with the 114 Base Command.
As I have noted in those two aforementioned entries, Gerfa Yeatts Lunsmann was born Jerpa Usman, to a Samal tribal family on Pangapuyan, a small island technically belonging to Zamboanga City. As a young child she was whisked away to America by a missionary couple who then re-named her Gerfa Yeatts. As an adult she met and married a co-worker at a healthcare corporation, Hiko Lunsmann. Eventually the couple had a son, Kevin Erick, and settled into a rather idyllic routine in a rural Virginia sub-division, in Campbell County.
Ms.Lunsmann had longed for and dreamed of re-kindling her relationship with her birth family, still residing on a group of islands in between Basilan and Zamboanga City. Shortly after Kevin Erik was born Ms.Lunsmann followed through and re-connected with her family. Buying a large lot on Tictabon Island, part of Zamboanga City, she set about constructing a large residential compound with three spacious homes. Not understanding local mores Ms.Lunsmann became irked as more and more members of her large extended family came out of the woodwork asking for money. Not suprisingly Ms.Lunsmann closed the spigot and refused to keep doling out ever increasing sums of cash.
One of those relatives who ended up feeling slighted was her sister Alma Jakaria, who had ended up living on Mamalawi Island, administratively attached to Isabela City on Basilan. On Ms.Lunsmann's latest visit to the Philippines Ms.Jakaria and her 19 year old son Romnick Jakaria arrived at the Tictabon Island compound just two days before Gerfa and Kevin Erick were set to depart for their return trip to the US. Romnick Jakaria however, is a member of the BIAF, or Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, as the military wing of the MILF is known, a guerilla in its 114 Base Command. Despite being related to Ms.Lunsmann he led a kidnapping team from the 113 Base Command, under sub-Kumander Waning Abdusalam, who until two weeks ago operated out of the municipality of Payao, in Zamboanga Sibugay Province.
Although the 114 Base Command is quite capable on its own, certain islands are within the jurisdiction of the 113 and so it was a joint operation. The 113 Base Command took its two captives, Gerfa Lunsmann and her son Kevin Erik and delivered them to a detachment of the 114 Base Command waiting in Basilan. Jakaria was of course reportedly a kidnap victim as well but just two days later was back on Mamalawi Island hanging out in the open, only heading into Basilan Proper when he received word the a composite detachment of police and soldiers were accompanying his mother Alma to Mamalawi to investigate Romnick's reported presence there.
Ms.Lunsmann was released on October 3rd, after an initial ransom payment was given to MILF representatives. Kevin Erik though remained behind in an interesting development given that most parents would opt to release their children before themselves and yet it is completely understandable given the BIAF propencity to rape female victims.
On Saturday, November 12th Romnick Jakaria had a barangay councilor, Ariel Laping, from Barangay Tubigan in the municipality of Maluso, broker his surrender to an AFP, or Armed Forces of the Philippines Corporal Lazo, who as a Cadre Officer commands that barangay's CAFGU detachment (CAFGU, or Civilian Armed Force Geographical Unit, the primary entity in the AFP's paramilitary programme known as CAAs, or Civilian Active Auxilaries). Coporal Lazo then delivered Jakaria to an AFP garrison in Barangay Abong- Abong. The AFP then told two different stories, both of which had Jakaria as a victim. The first story had Jakaria sneaking away from his BIAF captors after they fell asleep, due to the AFP's relentless operational pursuit, "Perhaps the kidnappers were exhausted after running around..."- Colonel Ricardo Visaya, Commanding Officer of the 104th Infantry Brigade.
The second story had the AFP's Scout Rangers hounding the BIAF until they simply released Jakaria to get some rest. Suuuuuure. Meanwhile, both stories had Jakaria undergoing "questioning," as in interrogation and NOT debriefing. Kevin Erik Lunsmann remains in captivity with the 114 Base Command.
Monday, November 7, 2011
MILF Armed Contacts for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part II: The 113 Base Command in Payao Goes Off the Reservation: The Prequel
As I often explain, the MILF offers very little financial support to its military organisation, the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, or the BIAF in shorthand. This has two very important detrimental results, both for the MILF/BIAF and for its unfortunate stakeholders. First, the BIAF is forced to find ways in which to creatively fund itself. Unlike the NPA which enjoys considerable earnings from multi-national mining and lumber concessionaires, the BIAF almost always operates in areas bereft of natural resources. Therefore, the "Revolutionary Taxes" collected by the BIAF- usually under a religious sheen as "Zakat," (charity), one of five compulsory acts incumbent upon all adult Muslims (how convenient)- is far too paltry to support the organisation above and beyond basic sustenance.
In 2004 the BIAF's Field Divisions were converted to their current form, the ostensibly mobile "Base Commands." Each Base Command operates independently of all other Base Commands and so they each raise their own funds. In order to be able to provide for weaponry, etc., most resort to illegal activities although such activities vary according to the particular Base Command and the "pickings" available within their individual AORs, or Areas of Responsibility (military-speak for Areas of Operation). In the case of some Base Commands, the 102, 103, 105, 113, 114, and 118, this involves heavy amounts of both commercial extortion (Protection Rackets), and KFR, or Kidnap for Ransom. Among the most active in those two activities is the 113.
The 113 Base Command's main camp sits atop a small mountain, a hill really, Bundok Payong (Mt.Payong) which lends its name to the surrounding barangay, now known simply as Barangay Payong. Located in the municipality of Sultan Naga Dimaporo, formerly known as Karomatan, in Lanao del Norte Province, directly bordering the Zamboanga Peninsula and its three constituent provinces:
1) Zamboanga Sibugay
2) Zamboanga del Sur
3) Zamboanga del Norte
The 113's AOR, apart from Sultan Naga Dimaporo, consists of the entire Zamboanga Peninsula proper, and some of its offshore islands. Other offshore islands, including those belonging to Zamboanga City, belong to the 114 Base Command which is centered in Basilan (and of which I have written about relating to the latest violence in the municipality of Al Barka). This close proximity sometimes leads to commerce between the two adjacent Base Commands, mostly consisting of the 113, the more prolific of the two, seling KFR victims to the 114 which then reaps a profit from simply ransoming them.
Authorities aren't stupid (well some anyway). If I, a foreigner, am this knowledgeable about the ins and outs of that little corner of hell you can bet your bottom barong that both the PNP and AFP (Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines) know the same information and in a precious few cases, even know a lot more (usually because they too profit from payoffs and sometimes direct involvement). My last rejoinder of course explains just why these degenerate scumbags aren't prosecuted for their literally thousands of major crimes. On April 5th, 2011, that changed in a major way.
One of the 113 Base Command's major extortion targets, Rural Bus Lines, refuses to bow down and hand over its hard earned profits to a bunch of social parasites. The result of course is that the 113 Base Command regularly targets the company, and this usually involves shooting and burning busses that pass through BIAF-controlled communities. As a result of these frequent attacks which have been targeting that particular company for 5 years and three other similarly reluctant bus companies for nearly as long, the AFP extended its SCAA Program to include bus companies.
SCAAs, or Special Citizen Active Auxiliaries are a variant within the CAA Protocol. CAAs, or Civilian Active Auxiliaries, are the post-Marcos equivalent of the CHDF, or Civilian Home Defense Force. In the AFP's COIN (counterinsurgency) program the AFP clears rebel-controlled communities. At that point it is up to the original CAA entity, the CAFGU, or Citizens Active Force Geographical Unit, to "Hold" the community- in other words, to keep the insurgents from re-infiltrating and eventually re-controlling the community. CAFGU are geographically fixed, manned by citizens of specific barangays who aren't supposed to ever operate outside those particular barangays. Of course the reality is alot different but that of course is besides the point.
Seeing a need for a localised force dedicated towards "Holding" the areas of operation for big businesses, the AFP then created the SCAA. The SCAAs are receuited by and paid for by a specific company but armed, trained, and ostensibly under the control of an AFP detachment known as a "cadre battalion" (as are CAFGU). Eventually SCAA were utilised in other ways, such as using them to serve as "Bus Marshals" here on Mindanao. A passenger taking a trip on a targeted company's bus will usually see two young men in camouflage fatigues, cradling M1, M14, or M16 assault rifles, sitting in staggered positions. Unfortunately the SCAA soldiers, known as CAAs, usually take the very same seating arrangement each and every time, one dead centre on the rear bench, the other at the midway point on eaither side depending on the demand of passengers for specific seats.
On the day in question, April 5th, 2011, four young men boarded Rural Bus Lines unit #9342 in the municipality of Roseller T.Lim (RT Lim) in Zamboanga Sibugay Province. Like the majority of bus passengers on Mindanao these four men flagged down the bus as it sped down National Hwy, heading into Zamboanga City, in Zamboanga del Norte Province, from the town of Ipil (the capital of Zamboanga Sibugay Province).
As the bus entered the municipality of Tungawan's Barangay Upper Tungawan, one of the four men suddenly stood. Quickly, a second one stood as well. Almost as if on cue the two pulled 45 caliber pistols, the first man quickly pivoting and with pinpoint accuracy shot the CAA sitting on the bus' rear seat right between the eyes, killing Lito de la Cruz instantly. His companion drew down on the second CAA, Frederico A.Luchaves, nodding his head slowly as if to warn him against moving a muscle. Sitting next to the dead CAA in the rear was AFP Major Julistidi Arasid, the EXO (Executive Officer, as in Second in Command) of the 18IB (Infantry Battalion), stationed in Ipil. Major Arasid's wife Sitti Alaya Jundam Arasid and their 15 year old son had travelled all the way from their Zamboanga City homes just to meet the Major as he came off of rotation in Ipil, so that they could travel home to Zamboanga City together. It was a special week for the couple, their eldest son, the 15 year old joining them, was about to graduate from highschool (most Filipinos do so by age 16).
Though not in uniform Major Arasid, like most AFP personnel, always carried his AFP-issued sidearm, a 45 caliber pistol. Perhaps fearing for his and his family's life Major Arasid, sitting immediately to the left of the just killed CAA, suddenly, perhaps instinctually, reached for his pistol. Just as suddenly both he and his wife were shot in the head and immediately killed. Pandemonium broke out as passengers began screaming and some quickly rushed towards the front trying to exit the closed door. As this took place the second gunman who had been training his pistol on CAA Luchaves saw the man suddenly move and promptly dropped his with a single round, wounding him. Major Arasid's 15 year old son took that as an opportunity to dive out the open window beside him and run for dear life.
The remaining two gunmen quickly revealed themselves and ordered all passengers and the bus driver, Crispin Lozada, to empty out all their valuables onto their seats and then slowly move towards the front, as they had Mr.Lozada open the door to allow passengers out. Once all passengers were lined up on the side of the road, two of the gunmen trained the newly captured M14s taken from the two CAAs, and trained them on their terrified captives as a third gunman went down the line checking for secreted valuables. Inside the bus the gunmen who had killed the three victims at the rear of the vehicle trained his pistol on the painfully wounded CAA, Luchaves. Kicking the man as he crawled, he forced the badly wounded CAA off of the bus and onto the roadside. As bad as Frederico Luchaves surely felt I guarantee that he felt much better after witnessing which took place shortly after he tumbled down the steps and onto the pavement.
The lone gunman inside of the bus doused the interior with gasoline that had been brought aboard in a jerrycan by one of the four gunmen. Walking to the bus' entrance he threw a lit matchbook down the aisle and immediately set the whole interior aflame. The three bodies inside the bus were charred beyond recognition when authorities finally doused the flames nearly two hours later. Had CAA Luchaves not crawled out of the bus he too would have ended up burned beyond recognition.
So ends this entry, a prelude to the recent AFP operation in the municipality of Payao. I will continue this sad tale in "Part 2."
In 2004 the BIAF's Field Divisions were converted to their current form, the ostensibly mobile "Base Commands." Each Base Command operates independently of all other Base Commands and so they each raise their own funds. In order to be able to provide for weaponry, etc., most resort to illegal activities although such activities vary according to the particular Base Command and the "pickings" available within their individual AORs, or Areas of Responsibility (military-speak for Areas of Operation). In the case of some Base Commands, the 102, 103, 105, 113, 114, and 118, this involves heavy amounts of both commercial extortion (Protection Rackets), and KFR, or Kidnap for Ransom. Among the most active in those two activities is the 113.
The 113 Base Command's main camp sits atop a small mountain, a hill really, Bundok Payong (Mt.Payong) which lends its name to the surrounding barangay, now known simply as Barangay Payong. Located in the municipality of Sultan Naga Dimaporo, formerly known as Karomatan, in Lanao del Norte Province, directly bordering the Zamboanga Peninsula and its three constituent provinces:
1) Zamboanga Sibugay
2) Zamboanga del Sur
3) Zamboanga del Norte
The 113's AOR, apart from Sultan Naga Dimaporo, consists of the entire Zamboanga Peninsula proper, and some of its offshore islands. Other offshore islands, including those belonging to Zamboanga City, belong to the 114 Base Command which is centered in Basilan (and of which I have written about relating to the latest violence in the municipality of Al Barka). This close proximity sometimes leads to commerce between the two adjacent Base Commands, mostly consisting of the 113, the more prolific of the two, seling KFR victims to the 114 which then reaps a profit from simply ransoming them.
Authorities aren't stupid (well some anyway). If I, a foreigner, am this knowledgeable about the ins and outs of that little corner of hell you can bet your bottom barong that both the PNP and AFP (Philippine National Police and Armed Forces of the Philippines) know the same information and in a precious few cases, even know a lot more (usually because they too profit from payoffs and sometimes direct involvement). My last rejoinder of course explains just why these degenerate scumbags aren't prosecuted for their literally thousands of major crimes. On April 5th, 2011, that changed in a major way.
One of the 113 Base Command's major extortion targets, Rural Bus Lines, refuses to bow down and hand over its hard earned profits to a bunch of social parasites. The result of course is that the 113 Base Command regularly targets the company, and this usually involves shooting and burning busses that pass through BIAF-controlled communities. As a result of these frequent attacks which have been targeting that particular company for 5 years and three other similarly reluctant bus companies for nearly as long, the AFP extended its SCAA Program to include bus companies.
SCAAs, or Special Citizen Active Auxiliaries are a variant within the CAA Protocol. CAAs, or Civilian Active Auxiliaries, are the post-Marcos equivalent of the CHDF, or Civilian Home Defense Force. In the AFP's COIN (counterinsurgency) program the AFP clears rebel-controlled communities. At that point it is up to the original CAA entity, the CAFGU, or Citizens Active Force Geographical Unit, to "Hold" the community- in other words, to keep the insurgents from re-infiltrating and eventually re-controlling the community. CAFGU are geographically fixed, manned by citizens of specific barangays who aren't supposed to ever operate outside those particular barangays. Of course the reality is alot different but that of course is besides the point.
Seeing a need for a localised force dedicated towards "Holding" the areas of operation for big businesses, the AFP then created the SCAA. The SCAAs are receuited by and paid for by a specific company but armed, trained, and ostensibly under the control of an AFP detachment known as a "cadre battalion" (as are CAFGU). Eventually SCAA were utilised in other ways, such as using them to serve as "Bus Marshals" here on Mindanao. A passenger taking a trip on a targeted company's bus will usually see two young men in camouflage fatigues, cradling M1, M14, or M16 assault rifles, sitting in staggered positions. Unfortunately the SCAA soldiers, known as CAAs, usually take the very same seating arrangement each and every time, one dead centre on the rear bench, the other at the midway point on eaither side depending on the demand of passengers for specific seats.
On the day in question, April 5th, 2011, four young men boarded Rural Bus Lines unit #9342 in the municipality of Roseller T.Lim (RT Lim) in Zamboanga Sibugay Province. Like the majority of bus passengers on Mindanao these four men flagged down the bus as it sped down National Hwy, heading into Zamboanga City, in Zamboanga del Norte Province, from the town of Ipil (the capital of Zamboanga Sibugay Province).
As the bus entered the municipality of Tungawan's Barangay Upper Tungawan, one of the four men suddenly stood. Quickly, a second one stood as well. Almost as if on cue the two pulled 45 caliber pistols, the first man quickly pivoting and with pinpoint accuracy shot the CAA sitting on the bus' rear seat right between the eyes, killing Lito de la Cruz instantly. His companion drew down on the second CAA, Frederico A.Luchaves, nodding his head slowly as if to warn him against moving a muscle. Sitting next to the dead CAA in the rear was AFP Major Julistidi Arasid, the EXO (Executive Officer, as in Second in Command) of the 18IB (Infantry Battalion), stationed in Ipil. Major Arasid's wife Sitti Alaya Jundam Arasid and their 15 year old son had travelled all the way from their Zamboanga City homes just to meet the Major as he came off of rotation in Ipil, so that they could travel home to Zamboanga City together. It was a special week for the couple, their eldest son, the 15 year old joining them, was about to graduate from highschool (most Filipinos do so by age 16).
Though not in uniform Major Arasid, like most AFP personnel, always carried his AFP-issued sidearm, a 45 caliber pistol. Perhaps fearing for his and his family's life Major Arasid, sitting immediately to the left of the just killed CAA, suddenly, perhaps instinctually, reached for his pistol. Just as suddenly both he and his wife were shot in the head and immediately killed. Pandemonium broke out as passengers began screaming and some quickly rushed towards the front trying to exit the closed door. As this took place the second gunman who had been training his pistol on CAA Luchaves saw the man suddenly move and promptly dropped his with a single round, wounding him. Major Arasid's 15 year old son took that as an opportunity to dive out the open window beside him and run for dear life.
The remaining two gunmen quickly revealed themselves and ordered all passengers and the bus driver, Crispin Lozada, to empty out all their valuables onto their seats and then slowly move towards the front, as they had Mr.Lozada open the door to allow passengers out. Once all passengers were lined up on the side of the road, two of the gunmen trained the newly captured M14s taken from the two CAAs, and trained them on their terrified captives as a third gunman went down the line checking for secreted valuables. Inside the bus the gunmen who had killed the three victims at the rear of the vehicle trained his pistol on the painfully wounded CAA, Luchaves. Kicking the man as he crawled, he forced the badly wounded CAA off of the bus and onto the roadside. As bad as Frederico Luchaves surely felt I guarantee that he felt much better after witnessing which took place shortly after he tumbled down the steps and onto the pavement.
The lone gunman inside of the bus doused the interior with gasoline that had been brought aboard in a jerrycan by one of the four gunmen. Walking to the bus' entrance he threw a lit matchbook down the aisle and immediately set the whole interior aflame. The three bodies inside the bus were charred beyond recognition when authorities finally doused the flames nearly two hours later. Had CAA Luchaves not crawled out of the bus he too would have ended up burned beyond recognition.
So ends this entry, a prelude to the recent AFP operation in the municipality of Payao. I will continue this sad tale in "Part 2."
Friday, November 4, 2011
Kidnapping for Ransom for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part VIII: Frank Oliver Tam Lim
For well over a decade Pagadian City in Zamboanga del Sur Province was immune from the anarchy and violence plagueing nearly every corner of the Zamboanga Peninsula. The last recorded KFR, or Kidnap for Ransom, was that of 55 year old Nenia "Babet" Candil Gomonit and her 10 year old grandson Ceekim Gomonit on October 30th, 2010. As the two settled in for a quiet evening watching television in their Barangay San Jose home their front door flew open. Rushing into the room a group of BIAF 113 Base Command guerillas who quickly grabbed a shocked Ms.Gomonit and her grandson before dragging them out into their get away vehicle (the "BIAF" being the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, the military wing of the MILF).
On December 10th Ceekim's father, Babet's son, received an SMS (text) informing him that since he had refused to even negotiate for a ransom he could dig up his mother's remains on a hillside in Sultan Naga Dimaporo, a municipality just over the border in Lanao del Norte Province (co-incidentaly within 2 kilometers of the 113 Base Command's main camp). In the end, Ms.Gomonit could only be identified by her dentures. Amazingly, her son STILL refused to negotiate over his own son, Ceekim. He defended his position by claiming that it was what his mother would have wanted. To read all about that interesting case refer to my entry, "Kidnap for Ransom for the Fourth Quarter of 2010, Part II: Resurrection of the Pentagon Gang" and a follow up entry on Ceekim Gomonit being released, "Kidnap for Ransom for the First Quarter of 2011, Part II."
Before the Gomonits the last kidnapping to take place in Pagadian City was that of local attorney Maria Dolores Adelaida "Maridol" Montano Liong and her 5 year old daughter Alexa Montano Liong in 2001. On March 29th of that year mother and daughter had just left Maridol's office at Ranillo Law Office on Pagadian's Malvar Street. Walking only a couple of steps the two were surrounded by seven guerillas from the BIAF 4th Field Division (which became the 113 Base Command in 2004- are we noticing a particular pattern here?). Despite it being only 430PM on a downtown city street, the men carried long arms (M16s and M14s) as they hustled their two terrified captives past shocked onlookers and into a charcoal coloured Isuzu SUV.
Only after Maridol's husband James, scion of a local Tsinoy family, paid a hefty ransom, did mother and daughter finally gained their release on June 18th, 2001 ("Tsinoy" being a Filipino of Chinese descent). Unlike today, the MILF of 2001 was still being run by its founder, the late Hashim Salamat. Instead of denying his men had kidnapped the two, as the MILF ALWAYS does today, he instead claimed that it was a few rogue guerillas and that in the end it had been the 4th Field Division that had pressured those "rogue guerillas" into freeing the captives, that and a "Room and Lodging Fee," euphanism for ransom here on Mindanao.
With nine years inbetween the Liong and Gomonit kidnappings the people of Pagadian City allowed themselves to imagine that both incidents were merely aberrations. That faux sense of security and invulnerability was shattered on Thursday, October 27th, 2011, in the city's Barangay Gulayon. On the day in question, Frank Oliver Tam Lim, age 32, and his 30 year old brother John Patrick Tam Lim, sons of local Tsinoy businessman Akao "Frank" Lim, were heading to young Frank's poultry outfit, "Fresh Harvest Farm," on National Hiway. As their Toyota Hi Lux pickup truck turned into the farm's access road they were followed by a green Isuzu Highlander SUV.
Stopping at the gate next to the caretaker's home, Frank jumped out of his pickup truck to open the gate's lock. As he did so five men in BIAF fatigues and carrying M16s jumped out of the Isuzu and rushed forward. As they moved past the Lim's pickup truck John Patrick jumped out of the passenger seat and ran for dear life.
From a safe distance John Patrick watched as the BIAF guerillas dragged his brother Frank into the Isuzu SUV before it quickly departed back onto National Hiway, heading across the provincial line into the neighbouring municipality of Polanco in Zamboanga del Norte. With the 113 Base Command's main kidnapping crew, that of sub-Kumamder Waning Abdusalam, now on the run after the Military captured his main camp in the town of Payao, across the border in Zamboanga Sibugay Province, it is quite possible that Lim has been taken by the 114 Base Command. Although centered on Basilan, it also has jurisdictional control over all of Zamboanga City's offshore barangays. With the kidnappers having driven into Polanco and thus into Zamboanga del Norte Province, the province in which Zamboanga City is situated, chances are even greater that he is now the "guest" of the 114 Base Command.
Lim is an attractive target with his father owning several high profile businesses including the Jollibee fast food outlet on the corner of Pagadian City's F.S.Pajares Avenue and Jamisola Street and a high volume coconut oil mill, et cetera,et cetera. The victim, Frank Oliver, lived in Barangay Central, on Rizal Street, and was known by many to keep a regular schedule. Thursday he normally visited the farm after doing his banking. Unfortunately he, like many in Pagadian City, became complacent.
On December 10th Ceekim's father, Babet's son, received an SMS (text) informing him that since he had refused to even negotiate for a ransom he could dig up his mother's remains on a hillside in Sultan Naga Dimaporo, a municipality just over the border in Lanao del Norte Province (co-incidentaly within 2 kilometers of the 113 Base Command's main camp). In the end, Ms.Gomonit could only be identified by her dentures. Amazingly, her son STILL refused to negotiate over his own son, Ceekim. He defended his position by claiming that it was what his mother would have wanted. To read all about that interesting case refer to my entry, "Kidnap for Ransom for the Fourth Quarter of 2010, Part II: Resurrection of the Pentagon Gang" and a follow up entry on Ceekim Gomonit being released, "Kidnap for Ransom for the First Quarter of 2011, Part II."
Before the Gomonits the last kidnapping to take place in Pagadian City was that of local attorney Maria Dolores Adelaida "Maridol" Montano Liong and her 5 year old daughter Alexa Montano Liong in 2001. On March 29th of that year mother and daughter had just left Maridol's office at Ranillo Law Office on Pagadian's Malvar Street. Walking only a couple of steps the two were surrounded by seven guerillas from the BIAF 4th Field Division (which became the 113 Base Command in 2004- are we noticing a particular pattern here?). Despite it being only 430PM on a downtown city street, the men carried long arms (M16s and M14s) as they hustled their two terrified captives past shocked onlookers and into a charcoal coloured Isuzu SUV.
Only after Maridol's husband James, scion of a local Tsinoy family, paid a hefty ransom, did mother and daughter finally gained their release on June 18th, 2001 ("Tsinoy" being a Filipino of Chinese descent). Unlike today, the MILF of 2001 was still being run by its founder, the late Hashim Salamat. Instead of denying his men had kidnapped the two, as the MILF ALWAYS does today, he instead claimed that it was a few rogue guerillas and that in the end it had been the 4th Field Division that had pressured those "rogue guerillas" into freeing the captives, that and a "Room and Lodging Fee," euphanism for ransom here on Mindanao.
With nine years inbetween the Liong and Gomonit kidnappings the people of Pagadian City allowed themselves to imagine that both incidents were merely aberrations. That faux sense of security and invulnerability was shattered on Thursday, October 27th, 2011, in the city's Barangay Gulayon. On the day in question, Frank Oliver Tam Lim, age 32, and his 30 year old brother John Patrick Tam Lim, sons of local Tsinoy businessman Akao "Frank" Lim, were heading to young Frank's poultry outfit, "Fresh Harvest Farm," on National Hiway. As their Toyota Hi Lux pickup truck turned into the farm's access road they were followed by a green Isuzu Highlander SUV.
Stopping at the gate next to the caretaker's home, Frank jumped out of his pickup truck to open the gate's lock. As he did so five men in BIAF fatigues and carrying M16s jumped out of the Isuzu and rushed forward. As they moved past the Lim's pickup truck John Patrick jumped out of the passenger seat and ran for dear life.
From a safe distance John Patrick watched as the BIAF guerillas dragged his brother Frank into the Isuzu SUV before it quickly departed back onto National Hiway, heading across the provincial line into the neighbouring municipality of Polanco in Zamboanga del Norte. With the 113 Base Command's main kidnapping crew, that of sub-Kumamder Waning Abdusalam, now on the run after the Military captured his main camp in the town of Payao, across the border in Zamboanga Sibugay Province, it is quite possible that Lim has been taken by the 114 Base Command. Although centered on Basilan, it also has jurisdictional control over all of Zamboanga City's offshore barangays. With the kidnappers having driven into Polanco and thus into Zamboanga del Norte Province, the province in which Zamboanga City is situated, chances are even greater that he is now the "guest" of the 114 Base Command.
Lim is an attractive target with his father owning several high profile businesses including the Jollibee fast food outlet on the corner of Pagadian City's F.S.Pajares Avenue and Jamisola Street and a high volume coconut oil mill, et cetera,et cetera. The victim, Frank Oliver, lived in Barangay Central, on Rizal Street, and was known by many to keep a regular schedule. Thursday he normally visited the farm after doing his banking. Unfortunately he, like many in Pagadian City, became complacent.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Kidnap for Ransom for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part V: Monaliza Almonte Kapa
NOTE: Although the Philippine Media is notoriously shoddy vis a vis accuracy and fact checking, in the case I am about to discuss they have been terribly remiss; the victim's name is being reported as "Monalisa Capa." Perhaps they will eventually get it right but I cannot be overly optimistic towards this end.
On Sunday evening, October 9th, 2011 Monaliza Almonte Kapa was working late in her ice plant next to the municipal pier in the town of Pitogo's Barangay Poblacion in Zamboanga del Sur Province. Though she was only two blocks for her home in Barangay Poblacion's Purok Pechay she needed to personally attend to the plant whose machinery had been spotty all day. Fishermen work seven days a week and they begin loading up on ice in the late afternoon to early evening as they make ready to head out to sea. Ms.Kapa was just as attentive in all her endeavours. Aside from the ice plant she an her husband own their own fish pond as coastal fish farms are known and a petrol service station as well. Sadly it was this success that led to Ms.Kapa's current predicament since success breeds jealousy and jealousy breeds violence, at least in the Southern Philippines.
At 645PM that evening ten guerillas from the 113 Base Command of the BIAF, or Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces as the MILF's military wing is known, came ashore in front of her ice plant. The ten men, all wearing the BIAF's trademark Malaysian tiger patterned camouflage fatigues and brandishing assault rifles, wasted no time, with six of them quickly fanning out to form a security perimeter. Leaving their three motor bancas idling, as motorised skiffs are locally known, four of the guerillas entered the plant. Grabbing a shocked Ms.Kapa they marched the frightened woman out to one of the three boats before turning towards Olutanga Island in Zamboanga Sibugay Province. Olutanga serves as a rendevouz point for the 113 Base Command's sub-Kumander Waning Abdulsalam and his brother, sub-Kumander Ustadz Abral Abdulsalam, both of whom lead co-operating KFR, or Kidnap for Ransom groups.
As I have described in a number of other "Kidnap for Ransom" entries the BIAF's 113 is one of a number of Base Commands that has begun to rely on KFR as its main source of fundraising.
On Sunday evening, October 9th, 2011 Monaliza Almonte Kapa was working late in her ice plant next to the municipal pier in the town of Pitogo's Barangay Poblacion in Zamboanga del Sur Province. Though she was only two blocks for her home in Barangay Poblacion's Purok Pechay she needed to personally attend to the plant whose machinery had been spotty all day. Fishermen work seven days a week and they begin loading up on ice in the late afternoon to early evening as they make ready to head out to sea. Ms.Kapa was just as attentive in all her endeavours. Aside from the ice plant she an her husband own their own fish pond as coastal fish farms are known and a petrol service station as well. Sadly it was this success that led to Ms.Kapa's current predicament since success breeds jealousy and jealousy breeds violence, at least in the Southern Philippines.
At 645PM that evening ten guerillas from the 113 Base Command of the BIAF, or Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces as the MILF's military wing is known, came ashore in front of her ice plant. The ten men, all wearing the BIAF's trademark Malaysian tiger patterned camouflage fatigues and brandishing assault rifles, wasted no time, with six of them quickly fanning out to form a security perimeter. Leaving their three motor bancas idling, as motorised skiffs are locally known, four of the guerillas entered the plant. Grabbing a shocked Ms.Kapa they marched the frightened woman out to one of the three boats before turning towards Olutanga Island in Zamboanga Sibugay Province. Olutanga serves as a rendevouz point for the 113 Base Command's sub-Kumander Waning Abdulsalam and his brother, sub-Kumander Ustadz Abral Abdulsalam, both of whom lead co-operating KFR, or Kidnap for Ransom groups.
As I have described in a number of other "Kidnap for Ransom" entries the BIAF's 113 is one of a number of Base Commands that has begun to rely on KFR as its main source of fundraising.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Kidnap for Ransom for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part I: The Release of American Victim Gerfa Yeatts Lunsmann
As I noted in my "Kidnap for Ransom for the Third Quarter of 2011, Part" entry, Gerfa Yeatts Lunsmann has led a rather interesting life. Born as Jerpa Usman to an impovershed family of Sama (Samal) Tribesmen in Barangay Pangapuyan on Zamboanga City's Sacol Island, she caught the eye of an American couple when she was just 9 years old. Adopted by the couple she was whisked away to the United States and a life most Filipinos can only dream about. Still, she had memories of her home and her biological family and so she made a vow to herself to one day return and re-connect with those she left behind.
Coming of age Jerpa, now re-named Gerfa Yeatts, took a position with the healthcare corporation Central Health in its Lynchburg, Virginia office. There she met a fellow employee, Hiko Lunsmann. Hiko, himself the child of a Norwegian father and a Japanese mother knew very well how difficult life can sometimes be when one looks or acts different than the mainstream. Marrying, the couple had a child in 1997, a son they named Kevin Eric Lunsmann. It was becoming a mother that compelled Gerfa to finally make good on her long ago promise to find her biological family.
Not long after Kevin first began school in 2003 Gerfa, Hiko and young Eric took their first trip to the Philippines. Shocked by the almost unimaginable poverty awaiting them in Mindanao it became a bittersweet reunion with Gerfa's birth family. Between them the Lunsmanns agreed to do what they could to help Gerfa's biological family better themselves. Though Hiko usually remained home on Gerfa's subsequent trips out of safety concerns, he was in full agreement when his wife suggested buying a large beachfront plot in Zamboanga City's Tigtabon Island. Not far offshore of the city's Barangay Arena Blanco Gerfa purchased a beachfront tract. There Gerfa had three palatial homes constructed inside of a walled compound but in her ignorance of local mores and the everyday reality of Mindanao she neglected to wall in the beach so that the compound was open to anyone approaching by water.
Believing herself and her son safe amongst her biological family Gerfa concentrated on the ongoing construction on all three homes within the compound. Much to her consternation and moreover her disappointment, she found herself unpleasantly fending off incessant requests from her family for ever increasing sums of money. To Filipinos of all ethnicities Americans, and to a lesser degree all Westerners, are perceived to be walking ATMs. In relative terms, compared to most Filipinos they might as well be. The poorest person in America need never go hungry nor deny themself medical care. By comparison most people in the Philippines know hunger on a daily basis and die from diseases most Americans consider innocuous due to their advanced level of healthcare. Still, relative poverty DOES exist in the United States and though the Lunsmann Family enjoyed the protoypical surburban American existence with the two cars and a tract home, they were far from wealthy. On Gerfa's most recent trip, arriving in Zamboanga City on June 29th, 2011, she had found herself getting into loud arguments over her refusal to keep doling out cash, with one particularly heated fight taking place with her birth sister Alma Usman Jakaria.
On the evening of July 11th she and Kevin went to sleep early so as to be ready for their flight to Manila the next morning as they began their long trip back home to the United States. Content knowing that her cousins were patrolling the exterior of the compound with 45 caliber pistols Gerfa drifted off to sleep. At 330AM she was awakened by loud shouts and before fully awakening found herself cowering in front of several men in military fatigues. Grabbed in her bed she was forced outside and found her son Kevin, and her 19 year old nephew, Romnick Jakaria, Alma's son, huddling together as other men trained rifles on them. Together the three were marched out into the surf and forced aboard one of two idling pump boats, as motorised skiffs or locally known. As the armed men clamored back aboard the two craft the party, from the BIAF, or Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces as the MILF's military wing is known, proceeded to cast off and set course on an easterly vector.
The guerillas, under sub-Kumander Waning Abdusalam of the BIAF's 113 Base Command were taking their two captives to Basilan Island where they had already been sold to the BIAF's 114 Base Command. Gerfa's nephew Romnick was himself a guerilla with the 114 and had arranged the entire kidnapping with his uncle, Lijal Usman, a sub-Kumander in the 114 and a major player in the KFR, or Kidnap for Ransom industry. Reaching Basilan before daybreak Gerfa and Eric were transferred to waiting guerillas from the 114 Base Command who whisked the two into oblivion within the municipality of Tuburan.
That morning, July 13th, Gerfa's sister Alma, mother of "kidnap victim" Romnick Jakaria, reported having received a phonecall from Romnick's cellphone. All she heard though was breathing before an irate voice in the background ordered someone to "go to sleep," in the Sama Language, before the call unceremoniously ended. The next contact was made on July 17th when Hiko Lunsmann, still at the family home in Campbell County, Virginia, received a much appreciated POL, or Proof of Life. Allowed to briefly speak to both his wife Gerfa and their son Kevin, Hiko was greatly relieved to hear them say that they were, for the moment at least, being held together and doing as well as could possibly be expected. Grabbing the phone the BIAF's negotiator informed Hiko that he was to withold all co-operation from American as well as Philippine authorities and that the kidnappers' opening gambit vis a vis the ransom was the astronomical sum of $10 Million (P500 Million).
Hiko Lunsmann, after conferring with the FBI, or Federal Bureau of Investigation as the top law enforcement agency in the United States is known, was advised against following the kidnappers' demands, at least so far as the American authorities were concerned but did inform him that the ultimate decision was his and his alone. Maintaining contact with the FBI on the assumption that the kidnappers had no way in which to ascertain compliance in America, he contacted Zamboanga City's Mayor Celso Lobregat, the obstensible Chairperson of the Crisis Management Committee handling the kidnapping on the Philippine end. Though Lobregat protested a tad bit he understood the reasoning behind it and indeed, in the Philippines non-co-operation is the rule of the day.
By late September, with ransom demands lowered to $3 Million (P150 Million), negotiations were still moving at a snail's pace but with foreign captives this is par for the course. The BIAF was in it for the long haul. Gerfa though began showing signs of extreme stress. Refusing to eat, mumbling to herself, she neglected to wash when offered the chance and so the BIAF related to Hiko that he might wish to seriously consider paying a substantial downpayment that would at least offer Gerfa an early release from the ordeal. Feeling immense guilt over leaving Kevin in captivity while freeing his mother, he took comfort in the thought that were he to instead opt to have their son freed Gerfa might end up irreprably harmed from the ordeal.
Now resolving to free Gerfa, a ransom of $500,000 (P10 Million) was delivered to Zamboanga City by the FBI who then turned it over to Mayor Lobregat in Zamboanga City on Saturday, October 1st. Lobregat in turn used a local Tsinoy (Filipino of Chinese descent) businessman slash smuggler, Wee Dee Ping, who has contacts in both the BIAF AND the ASG, or Abu Sayyaf Group, as an emissary. Ping, who usually goes by the moniker Lepeng Wee, hand delivered the cash in a black gymbag to Isabela City on Basilan and handed it to a high ranking member of the 114 Base Command on the afternoon of October 2nd. That evening, just after sunset Gerfa was blindfolded and led to an idling pumpboat that shoved off from Tuburan and landed in the municipality of Maluso, just down the beach from the municipal wharf at 920PM. Before removing Gerfa's blindfold the four BIAF guerillas aboard the boat covered their faces with bonnets, as baclavas or skimasks are locally known. Instructing Ms.Lunsmann to walk towards the wharf and then head inland into the town's Barangay Poblacion where authorities would be contacted to retrieve her.
As if shellshocked Gerfa walked down the beach looking dazed and then did as she had been instructed, turned inland for the walk into Barangay Poblacion. The BIAF meanwhile had contacted the Maluso MPO, or Municipal Police Office, and informed them that Ms.Lunsmann could be found walking towards Barangay Poblacion. Municipal Police Director, Inspector Dinar Hassan immediately set out with a well armed detachment at 10PM. Not finding Gerfa anywhere in Barangay Poblacion they worked their way back towards the municipal wharf. Upon entering Sitio Suba Kampong in the town's Barangay Townsite they spotted the still dazed woman walking as if she were drunk. Gently taking her into custody the police returned to the MPO where Inspector Hassan contacted the PPO, or Provincial Police Office who then immediately contacted the JSOTF-P, as the American Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines, which deployed a Quick Reaction Team with local Marines to secure Ms.Lunsmann and transport her to an LZ, or Landing Zone, for the helicopter ride into Camp Navarro in Zamboanga City.
Arriving at Camp Navarro at 245AM Ms.Lunsmann was immediately transported to the camp hospital where Mayor Lobregat arrived to "take custody," which in this case seeing how she was surrounded by US Special Forces soldiers and awaiting the arrival of the two FBI agents who had been deployed to Zamboanga City just after the July 13th kidnapping, Mayor Lobregat merely hoped to enjoy some decent photo opportunities and get his name in print. After FBI Agents Michael Paysan and Jagdeep Khangura arrived just before daybreak a convoy transported Ms.Lunsmann to City Hall where she spent 10 minutes in Mayor Lobregat's office as he begged and pleaded for at least a short press conference, reminding the distraught woman how many hours the local government had devoted to her case and how much interest Filipinos had taken in her wellbeing. Despite the best efforts of both FBI Agents who were also present Ms.Lunsmann reluctantly agreed to the press conference while Agent Paysan interjected that it could not exceed five minutes in length.
So, in the end, Mayor Lobregat got his five minutes of face time as Gerfa sat looking as if she had just been in combat, squinting and appearing as if she was unaware that anyone else was present, her long black hair haphazardly piled under a white baseball cap. Most questions fielded to her were uncomfortably ignored and as the five minutes elapsed the FBI then took full custody of Gerfa officially and transported her back to Camp Navarro for the hour flight north to Manila on an American Government-leased private jet. So ends Gerfa Yeatts Lunsmann's nearly three months in hellish captivity and yet her ordeal is far from over. 14 year old Kevin Eric Lunsmann who should be attending his first year of at Brookville High School in Campbell County, Virgina is instead being held tied to a palm tree, surrounded by people speaking a language he doesn't understand, and being detained for reasons he cannot fathom.
Coming of age Jerpa, now re-named Gerfa Yeatts, took a position with the healthcare corporation Central Health in its Lynchburg, Virginia office. There she met a fellow employee, Hiko Lunsmann. Hiko, himself the child of a Norwegian father and a Japanese mother knew very well how difficult life can sometimes be when one looks or acts different than the mainstream. Marrying, the couple had a child in 1997, a son they named Kevin Eric Lunsmann. It was becoming a mother that compelled Gerfa to finally make good on her long ago promise to find her biological family.
Not long after Kevin first began school in 2003 Gerfa, Hiko and young Eric took their first trip to the Philippines. Shocked by the almost unimaginable poverty awaiting them in Mindanao it became a bittersweet reunion with Gerfa's birth family. Between them the Lunsmanns agreed to do what they could to help Gerfa's biological family better themselves. Though Hiko usually remained home on Gerfa's subsequent trips out of safety concerns, he was in full agreement when his wife suggested buying a large beachfront plot in Zamboanga City's Tigtabon Island. Not far offshore of the city's Barangay Arena Blanco Gerfa purchased a beachfront tract. There Gerfa had three palatial homes constructed inside of a walled compound but in her ignorance of local mores and the everyday reality of Mindanao she neglected to wall in the beach so that the compound was open to anyone approaching by water.
Believing herself and her son safe amongst her biological family Gerfa concentrated on the ongoing construction on all three homes within the compound. Much to her consternation and moreover her disappointment, she found herself unpleasantly fending off incessant requests from her family for ever increasing sums of money. To Filipinos of all ethnicities Americans, and to a lesser degree all Westerners, are perceived to be walking ATMs. In relative terms, compared to most Filipinos they might as well be. The poorest person in America need never go hungry nor deny themself medical care. By comparison most people in the Philippines know hunger on a daily basis and die from diseases most Americans consider innocuous due to their advanced level of healthcare. Still, relative poverty DOES exist in the United States and though the Lunsmann Family enjoyed the protoypical surburban American existence with the two cars and a tract home, they were far from wealthy. On Gerfa's most recent trip, arriving in Zamboanga City on June 29th, 2011, she had found herself getting into loud arguments over her refusal to keep doling out cash, with one particularly heated fight taking place with her birth sister Alma Usman Jakaria.
On the evening of July 11th she and Kevin went to sleep early so as to be ready for their flight to Manila the next morning as they began their long trip back home to the United States. Content knowing that her cousins were patrolling the exterior of the compound with 45 caliber pistols Gerfa drifted off to sleep. At 330AM she was awakened by loud shouts and before fully awakening found herself cowering in front of several men in military fatigues. Grabbed in her bed she was forced outside and found her son Kevin, and her 19 year old nephew, Romnick Jakaria, Alma's son, huddling together as other men trained rifles on them. Together the three were marched out into the surf and forced aboard one of two idling pump boats, as motorised skiffs or locally known. As the armed men clamored back aboard the two craft the party, from the BIAF, or Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces as the MILF's military wing is known, proceeded to cast off and set course on an easterly vector.
The guerillas, under sub-Kumander Waning Abdusalam of the BIAF's 113 Base Command were taking their two captives to Basilan Island where they had already been sold to the BIAF's 114 Base Command. Gerfa's nephew Romnick was himself a guerilla with the 114 and had arranged the entire kidnapping with his uncle, Lijal Usman, a sub-Kumander in the 114 and a major player in the KFR, or Kidnap for Ransom industry. Reaching Basilan before daybreak Gerfa and Eric were transferred to waiting guerillas from the 114 Base Command who whisked the two into oblivion within the municipality of Tuburan.
That morning, July 13th, Gerfa's sister Alma, mother of "kidnap victim" Romnick Jakaria, reported having received a phonecall from Romnick's cellphone. All she heard though was breathing before an irate voice in the background ordered someone to "go to sleep," in the Sama Language, before the call unceremoniously ended. The next contact was made on July 17th when Hiko Lunsmann, still at the family home in Campbell County, Virginia, received a much appreciated POL, or Proof of Life. Allowed to briefly speak to both his wife Gerfa and their son Kevin, Hiko was greatly relieved to hear them say that they were, for the moment at least, being held together and doing as well as could possibly be expected. Grabbing the phone the BIAF's negotiator informed Hiko that he was to withold all co-operation from American as well as Philippine authorities and that the kidnappers' opening gambit vis a vis the ransom was the astronomical sum of $10 Million (P500 Million).
Hiko Lunsmann, after conferring with the FBI, or Federal Bureau of Investigation as the top law enforcement agency in the United States is known, was advised against following the kidnappers' demands, at least so far as the American authorities were concerned but did inform him that the ultimate decision was his and his alone. Maintaining contact with the FBI on the assumption that the kidnappers had no way in which to ascertain compliance in America, he contacted Zamboanga City's Mayor Celso Lobregat, the obstensible Chairperson of the Crisis Management Committee handling the kidnapping on the Philippine end. Though Lobregat protested a tad bit he understood the reasoning behind it and indeed, in the Philippines non-co-operation is the rule of the day.
By late September, with ransom demands lowered to $3 Million (P150 Million), negotiations were still moving at a snail's pace but with foreign captives this is par for the course. The BIAF was in it for the long haul. Gerfa though began showing signs of extreme stress. Refusing to eat, mumbling to herself, she neglected to wash when offered the chance and so the BIAF related to Hiko that he might wish to seriously consider paying a substantial downpayment that would at least offer Gerfa an early release from the ordeal. Feeling immense guilt over leaving Kevin in captivity while freeing his mother, he took comfort in the thought that were he to instead opt to have their son freed Gerfa might end up irreprably harmed from the ordeal.
Now resolving to free Gerfa, a ransom of $500,000 (P10 Million) was delivered to Zamboanga City by the FBI who then turned it over to Mayor Lobregat in Zamboanga City on Saturday, October 1st. Lobregat in turn used a local Tsinoy (Filipino of Chinese descent) businessman slash smuggler, Wee Dee Ping, who has contacts in both the BIAF AND the ASG, or Abu Sayyaf Group, as an emissary. Ping, who usually goes by the moniker Lepeng Wee, hand delivered the cash in a black gymbag to Isabela City on Basilan and handed it to a high ranking member of the 114 Base Command on the afternoon of October 2nd. That evening, just after sunset Gerfa was blindfolded and led to an idling pumpboat that shoved off from Tuburan and landed in the municipality of Maluso, just down the beach from the municipal wharf at 920PM. Before removing Gerfa's blindfold the four BIAF guerillas aboard the boat covered their faces with bonnets, as baclavas or skimasks are locally known. Instructing Ms.Lunsmann to walk towards the wharf and then head inland into the town's Barangay Poblacion where authorities would be contacted to retrieve her.
As if shellshocked Gerfa walked down the beach looking dazed and then did as she had been instructed, turned inland for the walk into Barangay Poblacion. The BIAF meanwhile had contacted the Maluso MPO, or Municipal Police Office, and informed them that Ms.Lunsmann could be found walking towards Barangay Poblacion. Municipal Police Director, Inspector Dinar Hassan immediately set out with a well armed detachment at 10PM. Not finding Gerfa anywhere in Barangay Poblacion they worked their way back towards the municipal wharf. Upon entering Sitio Suba Kampong in the town's Barangay Townsite they spotted the still dazed woman walking as if she were drunk. Gently taking her into custody the police returned to the MPO where Inspector Hassan contacted the PPO, or Provincial Police Office who then immediately contacted the JSOTF-P, as the American Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines, which deployed a Quick Reaction Team with local Marines to secure Ms.Lunsmann and transport her to an LZ, or Landing Zone, for the helicopter ride into Camp Navarro in Zamboanga City.
Arriving at Camp Navarro at 245AM Ms.Lunsmann was immediately transported to the camp hospital where Mayor Lobregat arrived to "take custody," which in this case seeing how she was surrounded by US Special Forces soldiers and awaiting the arrival of the two FBI agents who had been deployed to Zamboanga City just after the July 13th kidnapping, Mayor Lobregat merely hoped to enjoy some decent photo opportunities and get his name in print. After FBI Agents Michael Paysan and Jagdeep Khangura arrived just before daybreak a convoy transported Ms.Lunsmann to City Hall where she spent 10 minutes in Mayor Lobregat's office as he begged and pleaded for at least a short press conference, reminding the distraught woman how many hours the local government had devoted to her case and how much interest Filipinos had taken in her wellbeing. Despite the best efforts of both FBI Agents who were also present Ms.Lunsmann reluctantly agreed to the press conference while Agent Paysan interjected that it could not exceed five minutes in length.
So, in the end, Mayor Lobregat got his five minutes of face time as Gerfa sat looking as if she had just been in combat, squinting and appearing as if she was unaware that anyone else was present, her long black hair haphazardly piled under a white baseball cap. Most questions fielded to her were uncomfortably ignored and as the five minutes elapsed the FBI then took full custody of Gerfa officially and transported her back to Camp Navarro for the hour flight north to Manila on an American Government-leased private jet. So ends Gerfa Yeatts Lunsmann's nearly three months in hellish captivity and yet her ordeal is far from over. 14 year old Kevin Eric Lunsmann who should be attending his first year of at Brookville High School in Campbell County, Virgina is instead being held tied to a palm tree, surrounded by people speaking a language he doesn't understand, and being detained for reasons he cannot fathom.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Kidnap for Ransom for the Third Quarter of 2011, Part XIII: The Release of Luisita Galvez
In my recent "Kidnap for Ransom for the Third Quarter, Part X" entry I discussed the KFR, or Kidnap for Ransom, of Luisita "Itang" Galvez. Readers may recall that Ms.Galvez, a 34 year old single mother of two teenaged daughters had gone south to work as an OFW, or Overseas Foreign Worker as Filipinos working abroad are known, landing work in Malaysia's Sabah State on Borneo. Leaving the Philippines in 1996 at age 18 she sent most of her earnings home and managed to bring each of her eight siblings to Sabah and although her two daughters Sasha and Sheryn remained on Mindanao, Luisita considered Sabah her adipted home.
Then, in 2006, while working on Sandakan Island, north of the Bornean mainland, she met Raymond George Morrison, a Scotsman, now 51 years old, who had been working as a contract Operations Manager on one of the many offshore oil rigs dotting the Sulu Sea in the waters around Sabah. She had become a resort housekeeper and Mr.Morrison became a frequent guest where the two met. Having moved from Aberdeen in his native Scotland after his marriage went sour, until meeting Luisita he hadn't really considered giving romance another glance. Ms.Galvez changed all that.
Eventually, in 2010, after Ms.Galvez's immigration status in Malaysia lapsed the couple decided that it would be best if Luisita returned to Mindanao and Raymond would join her as soon as his current contract ended. Flying into Zamboanga City Airport she moved back to her hometown of Ipil, the capital of Zamboanga Sibugay Province. There, in between Mr.Morrison's visits to Mindanao the couple purchased a residential lot in the Nesicorom subdivision located in Ipil's Barangay Magadup. On the property, lot #9, they proceeded to start construction of a palatial two story home in an area where even three roomed cinderblock homes are considered "rich." It turns out that that dream house of Luisita's that soon attracted quite a lot of attention, some of it quite negative. In addition Mr.Morrison bought a second lot in an outlying area where he started a commercial sawmill catering to the local logging industry.
Eventually Ms.Galvez herself opened a business in Ipil's Barangay Poblacion. Located on Lapu Lapu Street, the RL, as in Ramond and Luisita, Salon and Spa also managed to create quite a stir in the lowkey provincial town. Gossip got to the point where Ipil's Mayor Eldwin Alibudtan personally warned Luisita that she ought to consider toning down her lifestyle quite abit and begin thinking in terms of her own personal safety a lot more. Though the municipality hasn't been targeted for some time now it is infamous as the site of a well planned joint ASG, or Abu Sayyaf Group and BIAF, or Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (as the MILF's armed wing is known) attack involving at least 500 very well armed guerillas. For four hours in the mid-1990s the Abu Sayyaf, along with the 113 and 114 Base Commands of the BIAF, controlled the provincial capital. The ASG and the BIAF's 113 and 114 Base Commands are all prime movers and shakers in the region's highly lucrative KFR industry.
As if prophecy, Mayor Budtan's warning hung heavy on the minds of many when, on Sunday, September 4th, 2011 three guerillas from the BIAF 113 Base Command dragged Luisita Galvez out of her salon slash spa in the middle of Ipil's downtown shopping district at just past 6 in the evening. Pushing their shaken captive brusquely into an idling minivan the captors sped off and into incognito. Ms.Galvez was then taken by boat to the town of Sultan Naga Dimaporo in Lanao del Norte Province, the municipality in which the 113 Base Command has its main camp.
Not long afterward, with a heavy military response to the abduction, the BIAF got spooked and transported her to Basilan Province, an island to the south of the Zamboanga Peninsula. There Ms.Galvez was sold to the ASG sub-faction led by sub-Kumander Radzmer Temmeng Jannatul. Jannatul delegated Ms.Galvez's custody to an underling, sub-Kumander Abdullah Julhaiber "Abu Kik" Alamsirulakaz. Abu Kik transported Ms.Galvez to an ASG encampment in the municipality of Sumisip's Barangay Baiwas.
On Monday, September 19th, 2011, three platoons (roughly 90 men) from the AFP, or Armed Forces of the Philippines' Scout Rangers Battalion deployed to Sumisip in response to reported movements of ASG through the town. Ending up in Barangay Baiwas at 9AM the detachment crossed into its Sito Bohe Peyat, the soldiers stumbled into the middle of the aforementioned Abu Sayyaf encampment. A fierce firefight immediately broke out and before it ended at just past 10AM three ASG guerillas known only by their noms de guerre:
1) Abu Sa'id
2) Abdul Aziz
3) Mukim
had been killed. In addition, the AFP is claiming that 7 ASG guerillas were wounded despite none being captured. The AFP also noted that one Scout Ranger:
1) Private First Class Arjae de Ramos
had been wounded as well. After the ASG withdrew upcountry from the camp the soldiers discovered that the firefight had also inadvertantly caused kidnap victim Luisita Galvez to be shot in both of her legs although the wounds were not life threatening. Ironically this very same ASG camp has been "captured" no less than four times since March of 2010. One would imagine that one of these days the AFP would manage to block the Abu Sayyaf from re-capturing their camp but of course this is the Mindanao we are discussing.
Ms.Galvez was evacuated and taken to Scout Ranger Battalion Headquarters in Basilan and given a medical examination before being transported to Zamboanga City's Camp Navarro where a happy Mr.Morrison gave her a teary eyed welcome at WESMINCOM (Western Mindanao Command) Headquarters. In the end Ms.Galvez spent just over two weeks in the custody of her abductors and unlike most KFR victims re-gained her freedom without having had a single centavo change hands.
Then, in 2006, while working on Sandakan Island, north of the Bornean mainland, she met Raymond George Morrison, a Scotsman, now 51 years old, who had been working as a contract Operations Manager on one of the many offshore oil rigs dotting the Sulu Sea in the waters around Sabah. She had become a resort housekeeper and Mr.Morrison became a frequent guest where the two met. Having moved from Aberdeen in his native Scotland after his marriage went sour, until meeting Luisita he hadn't really considered giving romance another glance. Ms.Galvez changed all that.
Eventually, in 2010, after Ms.Galvez's immigration status in Malaysia lapsed the couple decided that it would be best if Luisita returned to Mindanao and Raymond would join her as soon as his current contract ended. Flying into Zamboanga City Airport she moved back to her hometown of Ipil, the capital of Zamboanga Sibugay Province. There, in between Mr.Morrison's visits to Mindanao the couple purchased a residential lot in the Nesicorom subdivision located in Ipil's Barangay Magadup. On the property, lot #9, they proceeded to start construction of a palatial two story home in an area where even three roomed cinderblock homes are considered "rich." It turns out that that dream house of Luisita's that soon attracted quite a lot of attention, some of it quite negative. In addition Mr.Morrison bought a second lot in an outlying area where he started a commercial sawmill catering to the local logging industry.
Eventually Ms.Galvez herself opened a business in Ipil's Barangay Poblacion. Located on Lapu Lapu Street, the RL, as in Ramond and Luisita, Salon and Spa also managed to create quite a stir in the lowkey provincial town. Gossip got to the point where Ipil's Mayor Eldwin Alibudtan personally warned Luisita that she ought to consider toning down her lifestyle quite abit and begin thinking in terms of her own personal safety a lot more. Though the municipality hasn't been targeted for some time now it is infamous as the site of a well planned joint ASG, or Abu Sayyaf Group and BIAF, or Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (as the MILF's armed wing is known) attack involving at least 500 very well armed guerillas. For four hours in the mid-1990s the Abu Sayyaf, along with the 113 and 114 Base Commands of the BIAF, controlled the provincial capital. The ASG and the BIAF's 113 and 114 Base Commands are all prime movers and shakers in the region's highly lucrative KFR industry.
As if prophecy, Mayor Budtan's warning hung heavy on the minds of many when, on Sunday, September 4th, 2011 three guerillas from the BIAF 113 Base Command dragged Luisita Galvez out of her salon slash spa in the middle of Ipil's downtown shopping district at just past 6 in the evening. Pushing their shaken captive brusquely into an idling minivan the captors sped off and into incognito. Ms.Galvez was then taken by boat to the town of Sultan Naga Dimaporo in Lanao del Norte Province, the municipality in which the 113 Base Command has its main camp.
Not long afterward, with a heavy military response to the abduction, the BIAF got spooked and transported her to Basilan Province, an island to the south of the Zamboanga Peninsula. There Ms.Galvez was sold to the ASG sub-faction led by sub-Kumander Radzmer Temmeng Jannatul. Jannatul delegated Ms.Galvez's custody to an underling, sub-Kumander Abdullah Julhaiber "Abu Kik" Alamsirulakaz. Abu Kik transported Ms.Galvez to an ASG encampment in the municipality of Sumisip's Barangay Baiwas.
On Monday, September 19th, 2011, three platoons (roughly 90 men) from the AFP, or Armed Forces of the Philippines' Scout Rangers Battalion deployed to Sumisip in response to reported movements of ASG through the town. Ending up in Barangay Baiwas at 9AM the detachment crossed into its Sito Bohe Peyat, the soldiers stumbled into the middle of the aforementioned Abu Sayyaf encampment. A fierce firefight immediately broke out and before it ended at just past 10AM three ASG guerillas known only by their noms de guerre:
1) Abu Sa'id
2) Abdul Aziz
3) Mukim
had been killed. In addition, the AFP is claiming that 7 ASG guerillas were wounded despite none being captured. The AFP also noted that one Scout Ranger:
1) Private First Class Arjae de Ramos
had been wounded as well. After the ASG withdrew upcountry from the camp the soldiers discovered that the firefight had also inadvertantly caused kidnap victim Luisita Galvez to be shot in both of her legs although the wounds were not life threatening. Ironically this very same ASG camp has been "captured" no less than four times since March of 2010. One would imagine that one of these days the AFP would manage to block the Abu Sayyaf from re-capturing their camp but of course this is the Mindanao we are discussing.
Ms.Galvez was evacuated and taken to Scout Ranger Battalion Headquarters in Basilan and given a medical examination before being transported to Zamboanga City's Camp Navarro where a happy Mr.Morrison gave her a teary eyed welcome at WESMINCOM (Western Mindanao Command) Headquarters. In the end Ms.Galvez spent just over two weeks in the custody of her abductors and unlike most KFR victims re-gained her freedom without having had a single centavo change hands.
Friday, September 16, 2011
Kidnap for Ransom for the Third Quarter of 2011, Part XI: The Release of Randelle Patilona Talania
Just a couple of weeks ago in another "Kidnap for Ransom for the Third Quarter" entry I had revisited the sad case of young Randelle Patilona Talania from the town of Titay in Zamboanga Sibugay Province. The 9 year old boy had just finished with school for the day and was waiting in front of Titay Central Elementary School for his father to drive him home when two men who had been loitering in front of the school for half an hour suddenly grabbed the terrified boy and dragged him into a green minivan whose side door slammed shut as the two men climbed in after Randelle. As three of Randelle's fellow students watched in shocked horror the minivan took off at a high rate of speed, heading for the town's Barangay Bangco.
Though the Titay MPO, or Municipal Police Office was called almost immediately but came up empty during its very brief search for clues. It wasn't until late that night that the MPO received notification from an MPO in the municipality of Kalawit, in the adjacent province of Zamboanga del Norte telling them that the minivan had been recovered, though it had been burned by the kidnappers. A quick search of the LTO, or Land Transportation Office, databank discovered that the minivan had been registered to a Jose Enriquez of Zamboanga City. As is usually the case however, the vehicle had been reported stolen that very same day.
Randelle's mother, Rosemarie Patilona Talania, is the Barangay Captain of Titay's Barangay Namnam. Like most politicians, from the barangay level up to provincial governor, she had long been targeted by the well entrenched extortion organisations that operate all over Mindanao. Philippine politicians from governor on down receive Internal Revenue Allotments, or IRAs, in what generally amounts to a slush fund, or as Filipinos like to call them, "pork barrels." The idea, in theory, is that these funds should be utilised for pet projects like a post harvest facility or a new xray machine at a public hospital. All too often though the money simply lines a politician's pockets or those of his or her constituency as that politician does their best to ingratiate themselves and hopefully secure re-election. Very often extortionists target politicians for a portion of their IRA. In Ms.Talania's case she had steadfastly resisted these efforts and in return had herself been targeted for kidnapping, with most extortion organisations also engaging in KFR, or Kidnap for Ransom as a lucrative sideline. Apparently it had never occured to Ms.Talania that her loved ones might be targeted in her stead.
Because the kidnapping had been witnessed it had been reported to the MPO, as noted in my first paragraph. Even at that stage it is possible to break off all contact with the authorities and handle all negotiations without outside interference. Even without Ms.Talania's political experience she was undoubtedly well aware that KFR Organisations are extremely well connected. Tied into both the local political establishment as well as into the military and law enforcement detachments within a given area of operation, it is impossible to co-operate with authorities without a kidnapping group not learning at least a part of the exchange. Therefore aside from interference one can never be sure that the extra helpful and sympathetic Vice Mayor isn't relaying all details from your side of the ransom negotiations directly to the kidnappers, or in an equaly probable scenario, are themselves the actual kidnappers. Despite this knowledge Ms.Talania inexplicably allowed the local establishment to take control of ransom negotiations.
Standard Operating Procedure mandates that the Mayor of the municipality in which the kidnapping occurred empanel a Crisis Management Committee, or CMC, to streamline the official response to the crime. The Mayor includes his or her police chief, as well as the chiefs of the PPO, or Police Provincial Office, and PRO, or Police Regional Office, as well as the local military brigade as well as other assorted local power brokers. The Crisis Management Committee also officialy handles the ransom negotiations though most families refuse all contact with the body. Ms.Talania's allowing the CMC to handle all aspects including the POLs, or Proofs of Life, the photos and/or tapes of the victim that aim to prove his or her current state of wellbeing un-necessarily prolonged young Randelle's ordeal.
Originally demanding P20 Million ($440,000) in ransom the kidnappers became irate in late May when the Crisis Management Committee publicly revealed doubts as to the boy's state of wellbeing. Severely asthmatic, he was looking particularly ill in the most recent POL. Though the ransom was subsequently lowered to P10 Million ($220,000) all contact ceased in early July, again because of differences that the KFR Organisation had with the Crisis Management Committee. By August most people weren't expecting a positive outcome, myself included. The objective in any KFR is netting a ransom in as short a period of time as is possible. Breaking off all contact is counter-intuitive and when combined with a less than stellar POL, well you get the idea. Indeed, in a recent "Kidnap for Ransom for the Third Quarter of 2011" entry, subtitled, "KFR Scorecard," I noted that there was a strong chance that Randelle had died already. It isn't often that I find myself glad I was wrong but I am not ashamed to say that this time at least, it feels great to have been mistaken.
Randelle had been kidnapped by the BIAF, or Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, as the MILF' military wing is known. The BIAF's 113 Base Command controls virtually all KFR on the Zamboanga Peninsula. When negotiations stalled out in July the 113 Base Command tried selling the boy to the BIAF 114 Base Command, on Basilan Island. The 114 begged off however but managed to make a small profit by brokering the boy's sale to the ASG, or Abu Sayyaf Group. The broker who sealed the deal was Wahid Pingli. After the sale was completed and the boy transported from Zamboanga del Norte Province, where the 113 Base Command had been holding him to Basilan in late August, negotiations began anew. Knowing that ASG took a much different attitude towards KFR in that if ransoms are not forthcoming they simply kill their prisoners, the family began talks with a new urgency. Requesting the first Proof of Life from the ASG, they were shocked to receive a photo of Randelle holding an M16 and crying. With that photo the family quickly consented to pay the first reduction in ASG's initial ransom demand of P5 Million ($105,000) when at two weels into renewed negotiations ASG dropped it to P3 Million.
On Wednesday, September 13th, at 4PM, Randelle's father dropped off a ransom of P3 Million ($66,000) to a representative of the Abu Sayyaf in Zamboanga City and was told to return home to Titay to await a phonecall with further instructions regarding his son's imminent release. Just before midnite, huddled with pensive family members and stupidly, with members of the Zamboanga Sibugay PPO-IB, or Police Provincial Office-Intelligence Branch, Randelle's father almost jumped when the phone rang. Mr.Talania was informed that he should be sitting by the phone at 2AM, his son was on his way to his point of release. Finally, at 2AM, the second call came. The caller instructed Mr.Talania to come pick up his son who had been released on National Hiway in Barangay Kitabog, there in Titay.
At 245AM Randelle, skinnier but alive ran to his father and practically jumped into his arms as both collapsed in loud sobs. The three PPO-IB agents shadowing Mr.Talania were themselves caught up in the emotion of the moment as well. After a medical check up and de-briefing at PPO Headquarters in the neighbouring municipality of Ipil Randelle was finally allowed to return home to Titay with his father and a joyous reunion with his family.
Though the Titay MPO, or Municipal Police Office was called almost immediately but came up empty during its very brief search for clues. It wasn't until late that night that the MPO received notification from an MPO in the municipality of Kalawit, in the adjacent province of Zamboanga del Norte telling them that the minivan had been recovered, though it had been burned by the kidnappers. A quick search of the LTO, or Land Transportation Office, databank discovered that the minivan had been registered to a Jose Enriquez of Zamboanga City. As is usually the case however, the vehicle had been reported stolen that very same day.
Randelle's mother, Rosemarie Patilona Talania, is the Barangay Captain of Titay's Barangay Namnam. Like most politicians, from the barangay level up to provincial governor, she had long been targeted by the well entrenched extortion organisations that operate all over Mindanao. Philippine politicians from governor on down receive Internal Revenue Allotments, or IRAs, in what generally amounts to a slush fund, or as Filipinos like to call them, "pork barrels." The idea, in theory, is that these funds should be utilised for pet projects like a post harvest facility or a new xray machine at a public hospital. All too often though the money simply lines a politician's pockets or those of his or her constituency as that politician does their best to ingratiate themselves and hopefully secure re-election. Very often extortionists target politicians for a portion of their IRA. In Ms.Talania's case she had steadfastly resisted these efforts and in return had herself been targeted for kidnapping, with most extortion organisations also engaging in KFR, or Kidnap for Ransom as a lucrative sideline. Apparently it had never occured to Ms.Talania that her loved ones might be targeted in her stead.
Because the kidnapping had been witnessed it had been reported to the MPO, as noted in my first paragraph. Even at that stage it is possible to break off all contact with the authorities and handle all negotiations without outside interference. Even without Ms.Talania's political experience she was undoubtedly well aware that KFR Organisations are extremely well connected. Tied into both the local political establishment as well as into the military and law enforcement detachments within a given area of operation, it is impossible to co-operate with authorities without a kidnapping group not learning at least a part of the exchange. Therefore aside from interference one can never be sure that the extra helpful and sympathetic Vice Mayor isn't relaying all details from your side of the ransom negotiations directly to the kidnappers, or in an equaly probable scenario, are themselves the actual kidnappers. Despite this knowledge Ms.Talania inexplicably allowed the local establishment to take control of ransom negotiations.
Standard Operating Procedure mandates that the Mayor of the municipality in which the kidnapping occurred empanel a Crisis Management Committee, or CMC, to streamline the official response to the crime. The Mayor includes his or her police chief, as well as the chiefs of the PPO, or Police Provincial Office, and PRO, or Police Regional Office, as well as the local military brigade as well as other assorted local power brokers. The Crisis Management Committee also officialy handles the ransom negotiations though most families refuse all contact with the body. Ms.Talania's allowing the CMC to handle all aspects including the POLs, or Proofs of Life, the photos and/or tapes of the victim that aim to prove his or her current state of wellbeing un-necessarily prolonged young Randelle's ordeal.
Originally demanding P20 Million ($440,000) in ransom the kidnappers became irate in late May when the Crisis Management Committee publicly revealed doubts as to the boy's state of wellbeing. Severely asthmatic, he was looking particularly ill in the most recent POL. Though the ransom was subsequently lowered to P10 Million ($220,000) all contact ceased in early July, again because of differences that the KFR Organisation had with the Crisis Management Committee. By August most people weren't expecting a positive outcome, myself included. The objective in any KFR is netting a ransom in as short a period of time as is possible. Breaking off all contact is counter-intuitive and when combined with a less than stellar POL, well you get the idea. Indeed, in a recent "Kidnap for Ransom for the Third Quarter of 2011" entry, subtitled, "KFR Scorecard," I noted that there was a strong chance that Randelle had died already. It isn't often that I find myself glad I was wrong but I am not ashamed to say that this time at least, it feels great to have been mistaken.
Randelle had been kidnapped by the BIAF, or Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, as the MILF' military wing is known. The BIAF's 113 Base Command controls virtually all KFR on the Zamboanga Peninsula. When negotiations stalled out in July the 113 Base Command tried selling the boy to the BIAF 114 Base Command, on Basilan Island. The 114 begged off however but managed to make a small profit by brokering the boy's sale to the ASG, or Abu Sayyaf Group. The broker who sealed the deal was Wahid Pingli. After the sale was completed and the boy transported from Zamboanga del Norte Province, where the 113 Base Command had been holding him to Basilan in late August, negotiations began anew. Knowing that ASG took a much different attitude towards KFR in that if ransoms are not forthcoming they simply kill their prisoners, the family began talks with a new urgency. Requesting the first Proof of Life from the ASG, they were shocked to receive a photo of Randelle holding an M16 and crying. With that photo the family quickly consented to pay the first reduction in ASG's initial ransom demand of P5 Million ($105,000) when at two weels into renewed negotiations ASG dropped it to P3 Million.
On Wednesday, September 13th, at 4PM, Randelle's father dropped off a ransom of P3 Million ($66,000) to a representative of the Abu Sayyaf in Zamboanga City and was told to return home to Titay to await a phonecall with further instructions regarding his son's imminent release. Just before midnite, huddled with pensive family members and stupidly, with members of the Zamboanga Sibugay PPO-IB, or Police Provincial Office-Intelligence Branch, Randelle's father almost jumped when the phone rang. Mr.Talania was informed that he should be sitting by the phone at 2AM, his son was on his way to his point of release. Finally, at 2AM, the second call came. The caller instructed Mr.Talania to come pick up his son who had been released on National Hiway in Barangay Kitabog, there in Titay.
At 245AM Randelle, skinnier but alive ran to his father and practically jumped into his arms as both collapsed in loud sobs. The three PPO-IB agents shadowing Mr.Talania were themselves caught up in the emotion of the moment as well. After a medical check up and de-briefing at PPO Headquarters in the neighbouring municipality of Ipil Randelle was finally allowed to return home to Titay with his father and a joyous reunion with his family.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)