In parts 1 and 2 I touched upon the inherent risks journalists face when covering insurgent organizations. In the Southern Philippines, the story of an intrepid journalist trying to scoop his or her competitors with an interview of ASG, or Abu Sayyaf Group figures is an old one. Likewise, so is the story about said reporter thinking that that are above the fray, only to find themselves targetted by subjects that they planned on interviewing.
Although I used the example of Ces Drillon, I could just as easily picked one of literally dozens of names. I could have picked self serving media hack Arlyn de la Cruz, abducted in 2002. When not writing about Abu Sayaff for the Manila based "Inquirer," de la Cruz was engaged in a sexual relationship with the ASG's Khadaffy Janjalani. Such "familiarity" should have immunized Ms. de la Cruz from most-if not all damages...right?
I could have chosen Val Cuenca and Maan Macapagal in July of 2000. Indeed, the two were colleagues of Ms. Drilon at ABS-CBN and yet neither Arlyn de la Cruz OR Cuenca and Macapagal's experiences did anything to make Ms.Drilon step back from the abyss. If Phiippine journalists act like imbeciles, how can anyone really disparage an empty headed foreigner for making that same mistake? Whether it is the ten European journalists who thought they were getting the scoop of a lifetime when offered a chance to interview the abductors in the Sipidan Dive Resort KFR and ended up on the menu themselves..or...Andreas Lorenz of Germany's "Der Spiegel," who in 2000 begged to be kidnapped (literrally) only one month after being held with another group of foreign journalists for twelve hours, foreigners are even more likely to be victimized since their employers almost always carry seven figure KFR Insurance.
Which brings me, finally, to the case de jour, that of Jordanian citizen, Baker Abdullah Atyani. Atyani, Southeast Asia Bureau Chief for Dubai based Al Arabiya network is fairly well known to people such as myself. His claim to fame is one of those journalistic scoops that almost defy imagination. In June of 2001, while serving as Pakistan Bureau Chief, Atyani crossed the border into Afghanistan and travelled to the city of Khandahar. In Khandahar Mr.Atyani interviewed two men whose names were relatively unknown at the time, Osama bin Laden and Dr.Ayman al Zawahiri. Atyano claimed that during the unfilmed interview with the number one and number two (respectively)in al Qadah, both men dropped hints about 9/11.
Since that fateful interview, and the years of mileage Atyani generated out of it, the journalist has remolded himself into am authority on Islamic Terrorism. In fact, he has been to the Southern Philippines on a number of occasions and reportedly has extensive contacts within the ASG.
On June 11th, 2012, Baker Atyani and his local production crew arrived in Jolo City on a commercial flight. As is often the case, he was singled out by AFP Marines at the airport owing to his decidedly foreign appearance. Quickly brought to the Sulu Provincial Capital in the municipality of Patikul where he was subjected to the requisite arrival interview that all foreigners must endure in Sulu Province. As luck would have it, Governor Abdusakur "Sakur" Tan was in the building (basically, outside his armored vehicles it is the safest place for him to be) and so Atyani and his crew were quickly ushered into the Governor's inner sanctum and granted an interview.
Probably gritting his teeth as he wasted time discussing foreign aid and pork barrel nonsense (you know, I never thpught to ask whether politicians in Muslim Mindanao call pork barrel spending by some other moniker...maybe lamb?), Atyani lied when asked about his local itinerary, saying that he intended to cover the next day's Independence Day festivities in Jolo City. Instead, Atyani and his crew planned to interview local ASG members in an envisioned television documentary on Jihad in the Philippines. It is absolutely understandable then, that Atyani begged off when Govetnor Tan attempted to saddle with him with an AFP security detail.
Returning to Jolo City, Atyani and his two men crew checked into Jolo City's Sulu State College Hostel, on Martinez Street-co-incidentally, the very same hostel where Ces Drilon and her two man crew had checked into on their fated 2008 sojourn to Jolo. At 545AM the next day, June 12th, Atyani and his crew were seen entering a white multicab in front of the hostel. Aside from the driver, a woman was sitting in the passenger seat. Having told the desk clerk that they would be returning that same afternoon, Baker Abdullah Atyani, Ramelito Vela, and Rolando Letero drove off and disappeared.
Because of their mentioning a same day return the hostel staff naturally got nervous when, by the following day-June 13th, the three men failed to return OR contact the hostel. However, a peek into the two rooms the group had rented showed that they had neglected to take with them any of their personal belongings above and beyond their camera equipment, the staff decided to take a "wait and see" approach. By June 13th it became clear that something was wrong. Skittish hostel staff finally reported the failure of a foreign guest to return to their room for nearly two days. Elsewhere in the world perhaps, such things do not even deserve notice but in Jolo City, it almost certainly serves as a terrible omen.
The CPO, or City Police Office immediately notified PPO-Sulu, or the Police Provincial Office for Sulu Province and so the dominoes fell in short order, ending up with a messy pile in Manila. Interestingly, Government officials, usually very circumspect in KFRs, or Kidnap for Ransoms involving foreign nationals, went immediately for the jugular, accusing Atyani, in turns, of faking his own abduction-exactly the Government's tact in the Arlyn de la Cruz KFR...denied that Atyani had even been abducted at all since he got into the multicap outside his hostel by his own accord-a ploy the.Government used in the Ces Drilon KFR...threatened to have the BI, or Bureau of Immigration revoke Atyani's visa status and declare Atyani persona non grata-exactly what the Government did with Toshio Ito, alias Ameer Mamaito Katayama, whom the Government has also accused of having joined ASG simply because Ito is able.to move around ASG encampments unfettered at least part of the time*-another ploy used against Atyani.
When the Jordanian Government refused to stand for such nonsense all the Governmental shills who had been furiously pointing their fingers suddenly beckpedaled furiously.
Showing posts with label Kidnap for Ransom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kidnap for Ransom. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Friday, June 22, 2012
Kidnap for Ransom for the Second Quarter of 2012, Part VI: Mayor Jeffrey Tan Lim of Salug
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."
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."
Kidnap for Ransom for the Second Quarter of 2012, Part III: Jordanian Journalist Baker Abdullah Atyani, Part 2
The choice to use Mayor Alvarez Isnaji of Indanan as negotiator had not been made by sub-Kumander Sulayman "Abu Haris" Patta. Although Professor Octavio Dinampo, Philippine newsanchor Ces Orena Drilon and her two man crew were held in Abu Haris's camp, Haris himself served under Gafur Jumdail (his name is often mangled by the shoddy Philippine media hacks as "Gapur Jundain"), who had laid claim to the jungle covered badlands lying between the iconic Bud Daho and Matanding Hill, two extinct volcanos. This forbidding expanse, known to the AFP, or Armed Forces of the Philippines as the Karawan Complex, a sector in which five of the island's municipalities converge. Jumdail, in turn, served as the right hand man to his brother, Kumander Gumbahali "Dr. Abu Pula" Umbra Jumdail, the leader of a strong faction within the ASG, or Abu Sayyaf Group. It was Gumbahali Jumdail, a veteran of the MNLF, who opted to use his well respected superior in the MNLF, Alvarez Isnaji.
Mayor Isnaji's son, Haider "Jun" Isnaji was quite close to several members of ASG serving under Abu Haris, the ASG minion charged with actually capturing and holding Ces Drilon and her three companions. In fact three of his cousins were among the kidnappers. Initially Drilon saw Isnaji as an ally, even a savior when-from Drilon's perspective-Isnaji intervened to save Drilon's cameraman Angelo Valderrama from what she believed to be certain decapitation. Although Drilon has presented herself as having been incredibly stoic and firmly resolute during her ordeal, the truth of the matter is, she remained on the verge of hysteria throught most of her captivity. When, on June 11th, her captor's opening ransom demand quickly devolved into Abu Haris reeling in a murderous rage, it was Isnaji whom Drilon begged to intervene.
Drilon had been speaking with her family's chosen negotiator, the Vice Governor of Sulu Province, Lady Anne Sahidula, and per ASG insistence, had had the call on the phone's loudspeaker. Responding to ASG's opening gambit of P20Million ($400,000), Vice Governor Sahidula explained that Drilon's family could only afford P2 Million ($40,000). Abu Haris had been listening intently, struggling to follow the conversation in Tagalog, a language rarely spoken fluently south of Luzon. Upon hearing that Drilon, the captive he had hoped would provide the lionsshare of the colkective ransom, could only generate a paltry P2 Million, he ordered his men to drag Drilon's two man crew-Angelo Valderrama and Jimmy Encarnacion-through the mud before having them kneel back to back. While screaming that he was going to have all four captives killed, he had the two men tied to one another, by their wrists. Now much calmer, but much more menacingly, Abu Haris told Drilon quite matter of factly, that if the entire ransom of P20 Million ($40,000) was not received by 2PM the following day, June 12th, Angelo Valderrama would be decapitated. As Ces Drilon once again slipped into hysteria one of the guerillas standing next to crew member Jimmy Encarnacion looked leeringly at Drilon and advised her to do her makeup so that she would look her best when her loved ones opened up the box containing her severed head.
After several minutes the fourth captive, Professor Octavio Dinampo, himself a Tausug like their captors, warned Drilon that if they did not do something quickly, Angelo Valderrama would certainly die. He quickly explained that in Tausug culture consensus ranks all important so that, having made a definitive threat, Abu Haris could not renege even if he wanted to. Because a consensus had been reached on that issue, it was now entirely out of his hands. Dinampo recommended that they make an acceptable counter-offer along the lines of something much more attractive than the aforementioned P2 Million serving as an advance payment on the P20 Million total. Dinampo recommended offering P10 Million in exchange for the release of one of the captives, and barring the delivery of that amount, accepting P5 Million to extend the deadline. This would allow Abu Haris to save face if he called off the 2PM deadline.
Drilon quickly nodded in agreement and Dinampo approached Abu Haris. Returning to Drilon's side he informed her that Abu Haris had agreed to discuss the counter-offer with his men and if the managed to reach another consensus on the issue, he would let Dinampo know.
As the sun sank below the horizon both Jimmy Encarnacion and Angelo Valderrama were led to seperate hammocks with one arm tied to one of the supporting trees. Dinampo and Drilon could do nothing more, so both watched and waited. Just after 9PM Abu Haris approached the plastic tarp where Dinampo and Drilon were laying restlessly. Grinning from ear to ear, Abu Haris informed the two that a consensus had been reached. A minimum downpayment of P5 Million ($100,000) would forstall Valderrama's impending decapitation. Drilon was handed a cellphone and instructed to make the ransom arrangements. Afraid that Vice Govenor Sahidullah's involvement might cause Abu Haris to once again become enraged, Drilon adressed the Vice Governor as "sister" and stated in no uncetrtain terms that P5 Million needed to be delivered to Mayor Isnaji Alvarez by 2PM the following afternoon.
That evening, Drilon's brother Frank left Manila aboard a private jet carrying a duffel bag with P5 Million ($100,000). Landing in Jolo City at just after 2AM he was met by Vice Governor Sahidullah and Senior Superintendent (SSupt) Winnie Quidato, who presented himself as pointman for the DILG, or Department of the Interior and Local Government. Frank got a quick update and handed off the money before climbing back aboard the jet for his flight home to Manila. Vice Governor Sahidullah and SSupt.Quidato then made their way to the municipality of Indanan where the money was given to Mayor Isnaji. It took Isnaji several hours to communicate receipt of the money but when he did, he explained that of the P5 Million earmarked for ASG, P2 Million would be needed to pay off a host of important personalities, including Vice Governor Sahidullah. An additional P1 Million was being taken by Isnaji himself, as his "commission." After all, he had just begun a costly run for the Governorship of the ARMM, or Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. Factional leader Gumbahali Jumdail was in no position to argue, he had just received an effortless P1 Million for himself, and another to be divvied up by his brother Gafur and Abu Haris.
The next day, at 140PM, Abu Haris informed Drilon and Dinampo that Valderrama would not be dying. An hour later, barely able to contain himself, Haris again approached Dilon and informed her that the ransom was already with Mayor Isnaji and that he had been instructed to release Angelo Valderrama as a "present." That evening, as the guerillas celebrated their good fortune, Valderrama said his emotional goodbyes to his colleagues and Professor Dinampo. At just past midnite, June 13th, when Abu Haris and twelve of his men began escorting Valderrama out of the jungle. At 830PM that night, Valderrama was handed off to Mayor Isnaji's son Haider in the municipality of Talipao's Barangay Sinumaan. Taken to Isnaji's compound in Indanan, he was fed a good meal and then passed to the PPO-Sulu, or Police Provincial Office for Sulu Province for the requisite medical exam and debriefing.
Back in the Karawan Complex, the three remaining captives sat uneasily, the joy of Valderrama's release had quickly evaporated, if it had ever touched them at all. Still, with only ten guerrilas in the camp, and their leader gone, there was a more relaxing atmosphere, though "relaxing" is about as misplaced adjective as one could imagine. Whatever good cheer might have been had was hopelessly out of reach when, on the next day, June 14th, Abu Haris led his column of guerilas back into camp. When the group returned they joyfully passed out what amounted to six months wages there abouts, but even the guerillas' good cheer was fleeting as Abu Haris immediately gave the order to break camp.
As the guerillas began packing Abu Haris approached the three captives, now being kept together, and informed them that if at least half of the remaining P15 Million ($300,000) in outstanding ransom money was not delivered by June 16th, one of the three captives would be beheaded. Once again Ces Drilon segued from highly emotional into outright hysteria, causing a dismayed Abu Haris to add that Mayor Isnaji had requested, as a concession, that the deadline be extended until June 17th, and so it had been arranged.
As it turned out, the new encampment has a mere 30 minutes downhill, on the western slope of Matanding Hill, and after quickly settling in, Abu Harris rounded up the ten guerillas who had left behind when Angelo Valderrama had been released. They were now being given the same opportunity to quickly visit their home and distribute their share of the ransom to their loved ones.
The new camp consisted of "nipas," bamboo framed huts with palmleaf thatched walls. However, they lacked roofs and so once again, plastic tarps were spread over head to protect the captives from the elements. As if waiting for the new deadline of June 16th to pass was not difficult enough, on June 14th, the three captives had awoken to a lengthly mortar barrage as the AFP's 81MM mortar shells rained down upon an MNLF-EC15 (Executive Council of 15) came in the municipality of Indanan's Barangay Siyunugan. Of 25 rounds that dropped that morning in Sitio Timaho, four made direct hits on residential homes, wounding five civilians in addition to an undetermined number of MNLF guerillas:
1) Sitti Bia Bahara
2) Merna Abon
3) Wawan Ibni
4) Apa Atan
5) Ismael Idja
In addition, all of the nearly 200 families living in the sitio were made into "Bakwits," Philippine speak for "IDPs," or Internally Displaced Persons...refugees. MNLF-EC15 Kumander Sumimpal Khanain correctly noted that ASG stayed wel clear of his camp, and indeed, was rarely seen on that side of Bud Kapok, the dormant volcano upon which the camp sits. The AFP engaged in alot of double talk, claiming intermittingly that it was merely a drill...a long planned push for the year old OPlan Ultimatim...a surgical strike aiming to neutralize Jemayah Islamiyyah, or JI bombmaker Umar Patek...anything, as long as it wasnt the truth. In fact, it was a punative response aimed at Mayor Alvarez Isnaji, the highest ranking MNLF-EC15 figure in Sulu Province. The pointman for the DILG? SSupt.Winnie Quidato? He was actually a PNP, or Philippine National Police intelligence operative. During the delivery of the initial P5 Million,
Quidato had amassed enough circumstantial evidence to convince his superiors that Isnaji was neck deep in the Drilon KFR. The mortar volley on Bud Kapok was Isnaji's wakeup cal
As if a mortar attack isnt a miserable enough way to be woken up, after finally getting some much needed sleep later in the day, Drilon and her two companions were angrily woken up by screaming guerillas who accused them of mounting an escape attempt. Conditions worsened considerably when Drilon and her remaining crew member, Jimmy Encarnacion, each had their wrists tied together, with Encarnacion's wrists tied behind his back.
On June 16th the day began with the guerillas threatening to decapitate Jimmy Encarnacion and giving Drilon the phone, instructing her to contact her family for the next installment of the ransom. Instead Drilon called Senator Loren Legarda. The Senator, an opportunist if ever one existed, had obtained Drilon's cellphone number from Senator Franklin Drilon, related to Ces by her husband. Gaining the number, Legarda began texting Ces and so, just as she had with Mayor Alvarez Isnaji, Drilon began her over-reliance on yet another self-serving politician.
At just before noon Jimmy Encarnacion was prepared for beheading while Ces Drilon was once again instructed to pgone her family for an update on the ransom installment. Again Drilon sureptitiously phoned Senator Legarda and earned a hard slap in the face for her troubles. Drilon hit the floor hard, crying and moaning, she witnessed Jimmy being beaten with the stock of an M16. As Jimmy cried, begging for his life, the cellphone Drilon had just used began ringing. The guerilla that answered the call listened carefully, ended the call and began lauging joyously as he informed the shocked captives they were being released.
Unbeknownst to Ces Drilon and her fellow captives, while she had made her first phone call to Senator Legarda that motning, two duffel bags, each containing P7.5 Million ($175,000) had been leaving Manila aboard private jet. In Zamboanga City the bags were transferred to a chartered Southeast Asian Airlines (Seair) flight to Jolo City, in order to circumvent the extra-heavy media attention that could easily derail the ransom payoff. More to the point, Drilon's very high public profile had the Government extremely nervous over its "No Ransom Policy." Officialy, it is illegal to pay a ransom. Unofficialy, noone really cares EXCEPT when the media gets yet another golden opportunity to showcase Government hypocrisy. When the chartered plane landed in Jolo City the PNP Aviation Services Group was highly suscpicious seeing as how a charteted airline devoid of passengers had just landed and refiled a Flight Plan with almost no turn around time.
The PNP searched the plane and of course quickly discovered the two unaccompanied duffelbags full of cash. As the police prepared to steal...I mean "seize" the money, local attorney Nasser Inawat stepped forward inside the airport terminal with a written order from Vice Governor Sahidullah and was handed both bags. Inawat, a fomer member of the ARMM CLA (Consultative Regional Assembly) then delivered the money to Mayor Isnaji. Though he surely would have wished to do otherwise, Isnaji was now compelled by the ASG to turn over all the cash, his commision having been covered already.
Ces Drilon, Jimmy Encarnacion, and Professor Octavio Dinampo ended their nine day sojourn with a five hour walk into the municipality of Talipao's Barangay Kagay. There, Vice Governor Sahidullah accompanied disheveled but ecstatic Drilon and her companions to the Isnaji compound in Indanan. Fed, bathed and given a bed to sleep in, the three along with their hosts, Alvarez Isnaji and his son Haider, were driven into Jolo City very early the next morning and from there took an AFP Huey (UH-1H helicopter) to Zamboanga City. Professor Dinampo left them there and Drilon and Encarnacion boarded a private jet bound for Manila with the Isnajis
The Isnajis were arrested after two days of interrogation at PNP Headquarters, Camp Crame. By October everyone of the eight young men who initially took custody of Ces Drilon and her companions had been arrested but so what? aged.14 through 21, the most educated among them had a fifth grade education. less than P1,000 ($20) each, their lives were ruined by those tasked with leading them...people like Mayor Alvarez Isnaji. Isnaji and his son just had their cases re-filed on Money Laundering charges, after escaping the more serious Kidnapping charges but alas, I will have to get to that sordid tale in a "Political Developments" entry.
The operative lesson here is that a journalist, Ces Drilon, thought herself entirely above the fray. Even after being warned not to do so by her superior Ms.Drilon still saw fit to endanger her crew in hopes of sticking another feather into her cap. Her employer, the Manila-based network, ABS-CBN, merely gave her a 90 day suspension...while milking her faux paux for all it was worth in the ratings. The scary thing? Ces Drilon was the THIRD case of an interview with the ASG turned into a big money KFR. Just this month, June of 2012, four years almost to the day, yet another journalist thought themselves above the fray. In "Part 3" I will discuss that ongoing abduction.
Mayor Isnaji's son, Haider "Jun" Isnaji was quite close to several members of ASG serving under Abu Haris, the ASG minion charged with actually capturing and holding Ces Drilon and her three companions. In fact three of his cousins were among the kidnappers. Initially Drilon saw Isnaji as an ally, even a savior when-from Drilon's perspective-Isnaji intervened to save Drilon's cameraman Angelo Valderrama from what she believed to be certain decapitation. Although Drilon has presented herself as having been incredibly stoic and firmly resolute during her ordeal, the truth of the matter is, she remained on the verge of hysteria throught most of her captivity. When, on June 11th, her captor's opening ransom demand quickly devolved into Abu Haris reeling in a murderous rage, it was Isnaji whom Drilon begged to intervene.
Drilon had been speaking with her family's chosen negotiator, the Vice Governor of Sulu Province, Lady Anne Sahidula, and per ASG insistence, had had the call on the phone's loudspeaker. Responding to ASG's opening gambit of P20Million ($400,000), Vice Governor Sahidula explained that Drilon's family could only afford P2 Million ($40,000). Abu Haris had been listening intently, struggling to follow the conversation in Tagalog, a language rarely spoken fluently south of Luzon. Upon hearing that Drilon, the captive he had hoped would provide the lionsshare of the colkective ransom, could only generate a paltry P2 Million, he ordered his men to drag Drilon's two man crew-Angelo Valderrama and Jimmy Encarnacion-through the mud before having them kneel back to back. While screaming that he was going to have all four captives killed, he had the two men tied to one another, by their wrists. Now much calmer, but much more menacingly, Abu Haris told Drilon quite matter of factly, that if the entire ransom of P20 Million ($40,000) was not received by 2PM the following day, June 12th, Angelo Valderrama would be decapitated. As Ces Drilon once again slipped into hysteria one of the guerillas standing next to crew member Jimmy Encarnacion looked leeringly at Drilon and advised her to do her makeup so that she would look her best when her loved ones opened up the box containing her severed head.
After several minutes the fourth captive, Professor Octavio Dinampo, himself a Tausug like their captors, warned Drilon that if they did not do something quickly, Angelo Valderrama would certainly die. He quickly explained that in Tausug culture consensus ranks all important so that, having made a definitive threat, Abu Haris could not renege even if he wanted to. Because a consensus had been reached on that issue, it was now entirely out of his hands. Dinampo recommended that they make an acceptable counter-offer along the lines of something much more attractive than the aforementioned P2 Million serving as an advance payment on the P20 Million total. Dinampo recommended offering P10 Million in exchange for the release of one of the captives, and barring the delivery of that amount, accepting P5 Million to extend the deadline. This would allow Abu Haris to save face if he called off the 2PM deadline.
Drilon quickly nodded in agreement and Dinampo approached Abu Haris. Returning to Drilon's side he informed her that Abu Haris had agreed to discuss the counter-offer with his men and if the managed to reach another consensus on the issue, he would let Dinampo know.
As the sun sank below the horizon both Jimmy Encarnacion and Angelo Valderrama were led to seperate hammocks with one arm tied to one of the supporting trees. Dinampo and Drilon could do nothing more, so both watched and waited. Just after 9PM Abu Haris approached the plastic tarp where Dinampo and Drilon were laying restlessly. Grinning from ear to ear, Abu Haris informed the two that a consensus had been reached. A minimum downpayment of P5 Million ($100,000) would forstall Valderrama's impending decapitation. Drilon was handed a cellphone and instructed to make the ransom arrangements. Afraid that Vice Govenor Sahidullah's involvement might cause Abu Haris to once again become enraged, Drilon adressed the Vice Governor as "sister" and stated in no uncetrtain terms that P5 Million needed to be delivered to Mayor Isnaji Alvarez by 2PM the following afternoon.
That evening, Drilon's brother Frank left Manila aboard a private jet carrying a duffel bag with P5 Million ($100,000). Landing in Jolo City at just after 2AM he was met by Vice Governor Sahidullah and Senior Superintendent (SSupt) Winnie Quidato, who presented himself as pointman for the DILG, or Department of the Interior and Local Government. Frank got a quick update and handed off the money before climbing back aboard the jet for his flight home to Manila. Vice Governor Sahidullah and SSupt.Quidato then made their way to the municipality of Indanan where the money was given to Mayor Isnaji. It took Isnaji several hours to communicate receipt of the money but when he did, he explained that of the P5 Million earmarked for ASG, P2 Million would be needed to pay off a host of important personalities, including Vice Governor Sahidullah. An additional P1 Million was being taken by Isnaji himself, as his "commission." After all, he had just begun a costly run for the Governorship of the ARMM, or Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. Factional leader Gumbahali Jumdail was in no position to argue, he had just received an effortless P1 Million for himself, and another to be divvied up by his brother Gafur and Abu Haris.
The next day, at 140PM, Abu Haris informed Drilon and Dinampo that Valderrama would not be dying. An hour later, barely able to contain himself, Haris again approached Dilon and informed her that the ransom was already with Mayor Isnaji and that he had been instructed to release Angelo Valderrama as a "present." That evening, as the guerillas celebrated their good fortune, Valderrama said his emotional goodbyes to his colleagues and Professor Dinampo. At just past midnite, June 13th, when Abu Haris and twelve of his men began escorting Valderrama out of the jungle. At 830PM that night, Valderrama was handed off to Mayor Isnaji's son Haider in the municipality of Talipao's Barangay Sinumaan. Taken to Isnaji's compound in Indanan, he was fed a good meal and then passed to the PPO-Sulu, or Police Provincial Office for Sulu Province for the requisite medical exam and debriefing.
Back in the Karawan Complex, the three remaining captives sat uneasily, the joy of Valderrama's release had quickly evaporated, if it had ever touched them at all. Still, with only ten guerrilas in the camp, and their leader gone, there was a more relaxing atmosphere, though "relaxing" is about as misplaced adjective as one could imagine. Whatever good cheer might have been had was hopelessly out of reach when, on the next day, June 14th, Abu Haris led his column of guerilas back into camp. When the group returned they joyfully passed out what amounted to six months wages there abouts, but even the guerillas' good cheer was fleeting as Abu Haris immediately gave the order to break camp.
As the guerillas began packing Abu Haris approached the three captives, now being kept together, and informed them that if at least half of the remaining P15 Million ($300,000) in outstanding ransom money was not delivered by June 16th, one of the three captives would be beheaded. Once again Ces Drilon segued from highly emotional into outright hysteria, causing a dismayed Abu Haris to add that Mayor Isnaji had requested, as a concession, that the deadline be extended until June 17th, and so it had been arranged.
As it turned out, the new encampment has a mere 30 minutes downhill, on the western slope of Matanding Hill, and after quickly settling in, Abu Harris rounded up the ten guerillas who had left behind when Angelo Valderrama had been released. They were now being given the same opportunity to quickly visit their home and distribute their share of the ransom to their loved ones.
The new camp consisted of "nipas," bamboo framed huts with palmleaf thatched walls. However, they lacked roofs and so once again, plastic tarps were spread over head to protect the captives from the elements. As if waiting for the new deadline of June 16th to pass was not difficult enough, on June 14th, the three captives had awoken to a lengthly mortar barrage as the AFP's 81MM mortar shells rained down upon an MNLF-EC15 (Executive Council of 15) came in the municipality of Indanan's Barangay Siyunugan. Of 25 rounds that dropped that morning in Sitio Timaho, four made direct hits on residential homes, wounding five civilians in addition to an undetermined number of MNLF guerillas:
1) Sitti Bia Bahara
2) Merna Abon
3) Wawan Ibni
4) Apa Atan
5) Ismael Idja
In addition, all of the nearly 200 families living in the sitio were made into "Bakwits," Philippine speak for "IDPs," or Internally Displaced Persons...refugees. MNLF-EC15 Kumander Sumimpal Khanain correctly noted that ASG stayed wel clear of his camp, and indeed, was rarely seen on that side of Bud Kapok, the dormant volcano upon which the camp sits. The AFP engaged in alot of double talk, claiming intermittingly that it was merely a drill...a long planned push for the year old OPlan Ultimatim...a surgical strike aiming to neutralize Jemayah Islamiyyah, or JI bombmaker Umar Patek...anything, as long as it wasnt the truth. In fact, it was a punative response aimed at Mayor Alvarez Isnaji, the highest ranking MNLF-EC15 figure in Sulu Province. The pointman for the DILG? SSupt.Winnie Quidato? He was actually a PNP, or Philippine National Police intelligence operative. During the delivery of the initial P5 Million,
Quidato had amassed enough circumstantial evidence to convince his superiors that Isnaji was neck deep in the Drilon KFR. The mortar volley on Bud Kapok was Isnaji's wakeup cal
As if a mortar attack isnt a miserable enough way to be woken up, after finally getting some much needed sleep later in the day, Drilon and her two companions were angrily woken up by screaming guerillas who accused them of mounting an escape attempt. Conditions worsened considerably when Drilon and her remaining crew member, Jimmy Encarnacion, each had their wrists tied together, with Encarnacion's wrists tied behind his back.
On June 16th the day began with the guerillas threatening to decapitate Jimmy Encarnacion and giving Drilon the phone, instructing her to contact her family for the next installment of the ransom. Instead Drilon called Senator Loren Legarda. The Senator, an opportunist if ever one existed, had obtained Drilon's cellphone number from Senator Franklin Drilon, related to Ces by her husband. Gaining the number, Legarda began texting Ces and so, just as she had with Mayor Alvarez Isnaji, Drilon began her over-reliance on yet another self-serving politician.
At just before noon Jimmy Encarnacion was prepared for beheading while Ces Drilon was once again instructed to pgone her family for an update on the ransom installment. Again Drilon sureptitiously phoned Senator Legarda and earned a hard slap in the face for her troubles. Drilon hit the floor hard, crying and moaning, she witnessed Jimmy being beaten with the stock of an M16. As Jimmy cried, begging for his life, the cellphone Drilon had just used began ringing. The guerilla that answered the call listened carefully, ended the call and began lauging joyously as he informed the shocked captives they were being released.
Unbeknownst to Ces Drilon and her fellow captives, while she had made her first phone call to Senator Legarda that motning, two duffel bags, each containing P7.5 Million ($175,000) had been leaving Manila aboard private jet. In Zamboanga City the bags were transferred to a chartered Southeast Asian Airlines (Seair) flight to Jolo City, in order to circumvent the extra-heavy media attention that could easily derail the ransom payoff. More to the point, Drilon's very high public profile had the Government extremely nervous over its "No Ransom Policy." Officialy, it is illegal to pay a ransom. Unofficialy, noone really cares EXCEPT when the media gets yet another golden opportunity to showcase Government hypocrisy. When the chartered plane landed in Jolo City the PNP Aviation Services Group was highly suscpicious seeing as how a charteted airline devoid of passengers had just landed and refiled a Flight Plan with almost no turn around time.
The PNP searched the plane and of course quickly discovered the two unaccompanied duffelbags full of cash. As the police prepared to steal...I mean "seize" the money, local attorney Nasser Inawat stepped forward inside the airport terminal with a written order from Vice Governor Sahidullah and was handed both bags. Inawat, a fomer member of the ARMM CLA (Consultative Regional Assembly) then delivered the money to Mayor Isnaji. Though he surely would have wished to do otherwise, Isnaji was now compelled by the ASG to turn over all the cash, his commision having been covered already.
Ces Drilon, Jimmy Encarnacion, and Professor Octavio Dinampo ended their nine day sojourn with a five hour walk into the municipality of Talipao's Barangay Kagay. There, Vice Governor Sahidullah accompanied disheveled but ecstatic Drilon and her companions to the Isnaji compound in Indanan. Fed, bathed and given a bed to sleep in, the three along with their hosts, Alvarez Isnaji and his son Haider, were driven into Jolo City very early the next morning and from there took an AFP Huey (UH-1H helicopter) to Zamboanga City. Professor Dinampo left them there and Drilon and Encarnacion boarded a private jet bound for Manila with the Isnajis
The Isnajis were arrested after two days of interrogation at PNP Headquarters, Camp Crame. By October everyone of the eight young men who initially took custody of Ces Drilon and her companions had been arrested but so what? aged.14 through 21, the most educated among them had a fifth grade education. less than P1,000 ($20) each, their lives were ruined by those tasked with leading them...people like Mayor Alvarez Isnaji. Isnaji and his son just had their cases re-filed on Money Laundering charges, after escaping the more serious Kidnapping charges but alas, I will have to get to that sordid tale in a "Political Developments" entry.
The operative lesson here is that a journalist, Ces Drilon, thought herself entirely above the fray. Even after being warned not to do so by her superior Ms.Drilon still saw fit to endanger her crew in hopes of sticking another feather into her cap. Her employer, the Manila-based network, ABS-CBN, merely gave her a 90 day suspension...while milking her faux paux for all it was worth in the ratings. The scary thing? Ces Drilon was the THIRD case of an interview with the ASG turned into a big money KFR. Just this month, June of 2012, four years almost to the day, yet another journalist thought themselves above the fray. In "Part 3" I will discuss that ongoing abduction.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Kidnap for Ransom for the Second Quarter of 2012, Part II: Justina Parian and Rona Parian
As far as dangerous occupations go, working as a money lender in the ARMM, or Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, has got to be one of the jobs topping the list. Usury, an antiquated term meaning "lending money and profitting off of the interest," is about as despised by Muslims as selling lottery tickets is. However, despite many Filipino Muslims fantasizing about it, the ARMM is NOT entirely Muslim. The region's Christian and Animist residents do utilize the services of people like Ms.Parian.
Owing to the safety profile of her job, Justina was provided with an armed bodyguard while making collections, courtesy of the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines). Private First Class (Pfc) Regime "Rey" Jim Emerio, of the 6IB (Infantry Battalion) had no specialized training-just like all AFP security detail personnel-and was simply ordered to ride shotgun, in uniform, and carrying his 45 caliber service pistol. AFP security details are, like the rifle toting security guards outside all Philippine malls, a "feel good" measure designed to placate, not actually combat the very real dangers that are so overly abundant here on Mindanao.
On Friday, June 15th, 2012, Justina Parian asked her 22 year old daughter Rona to tag along to keep her company while she spent a long day in her Toyota Vios, driving along the entire length of the Lebak Cotabato City National Hiway. Bringing her infant daughter along, Rona joined her mother and Pfc.Emerio. After a long and uneventful day mother and daughter were returning to their home in the municipality of North Upi, in Maguindanao Province. As the group entered Barangay Kibucay in the adjacent town of Upi, Pfc.Emerio remarked that something just did not feel right. Reaching Kilometer #26 in Sitio Kibuncog, all hell broke loose as their vehicle was ambushed.
Twenty guerillas from the BIAF, or Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, 105 Base Command pounded the vehicle with M16s and M14s but to their suprise Pfc.Emerio refused to fold, returning fire with his 45 caliber pistol. With Justina Parian cowering in the driver's seat, and Rona wailing in terror as she lay across her baby, Pfc.Emerio held on as long as he could until, finally, he ran out of ammunution.
Rushing the now defenseless vehicle one of the attackers used the butt of his rifle to smash open the front paasenger door, pointed the barrel of his M14 in Pfc.Emerio's face and squeezed off a three round burst, blowing most of Emerio's head off. On the opposite side another BIAF guerilla used his rifle to smash the Toyota's driver side window. Opening the door, he dragged Justina out of the vehicle. During the firefight Justina had taken a round directly in her foot and aside from her precarious emotional state, Justina's foot severely limited her mobility.
Leaving the hiway the guerillas moved one kilometer on an easterly vector, moving back towards the municipality of Guindulungan when a firefight with the 40IB (Infantry Battalion) killed one guerilla, Impaw Musa Datuayon, of Barangay Muti in Guindulungan. A second column from that same battalion entered the sector and after receiving word about it, the guerillas quickly abandoned Justina, and then withdrew after seperating into smal groups.
Justina, and Rona who was herself wounded in the head and foot, were both transported to a nearby hospital before being debriefed. Luckily, Rona's infant daughter emerged from the ordeal none the worse.
Owing to the safety profile of her job, Justina was provided with an armed bodyguard while making collections, courtesy of the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines). Private First Class (Pfc) Regime "Rey" Jim Emerio, of the 6IB (Infantry Battalion) had no specialized training-just like all AFP security detail personnel-and was simply ordered to ride shotgun, in uniform, and carrying his 45 caliber service pistol. AFP security details are, like the rifle toting security guards outside all Philippine malls, a "feel good" measure designed to placate, not actually combat the very real dangers that are so overly abundant here on Mindanao.
On Friday, June 15th, 2012, Justina Parian asked her 22 year old daughter Rona to tag along to keep her company while she spent a long day in her Toyota Vios, driving along the entire length of the Lebak Cotabato City National Hiway. Bringing her infant daughter along, Rona joined her mother and Pfc.Emerio. After a long and uneventful day mother and daughter were returning to their home in the municipality of North Upi, in Maguindanao Province. As the group entered Barangay Kibucay in the adjacent town of Upi, Pfc.Emerio remarked that something just did not feel right. Reaching Kilometer #26 in Sitio Kibuncog, all hell broke loose as their vehicle was ambushed.
Twenty guerillas from the BIAF, or Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, 105 Base Command pounded the vehicle with M16s and M14s but to their suprise Pfc.Emerio refused to fold, returning fire with his 45 caliber pistol. With Justina Parian cowering in the driver's seat, and Rona wailing in terror as she lay across her baby, Pfc.Emerio held on as long as he could until, finally, he ran out of ammunution.
Rushing the now defenseless vehicle one of the attackers used the butt of his rifle to smash open the front paasenger door, pointed the barrel of his M14 in Pfc.Emerio's face and squeezed off a three round burst, blowing most of Emerio's head off. On the opposite side another BIAF guerilla used his rifle to smash the Toyota's driver side window. Opening the door, he dragged Justina out of the vehicle. During the firefight Justina had taken a round directly in her foot and aside from her precarious emotional state, Justina's foot severely limited her mobility.
Leaving the hiway the guerillas moved one kilometer on an easterly vector, moving back towards the municipality of Guindulungan when a firefight with the 40IB (Infantry Battalion) killed one guerilla, Impaw Musa Datuayon, of Barangay Muti in Guindulungan. A second column from that same battalion entered the sector and after receiving word about it, the guerillas quickly abandoned Justina, and then withdrew after seperating into smal groups.
Justina, and Rona who was herself wounded in the head and foot, were both transported to a nearby hospital before being debriefed. Luckily, Rona's infant daughter emerged from the ordeal none the worse.
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Kidnap for Ransom for the Second Quarter of 2012, Part I: Ex-Mayor of Placer, Charry T.Mangacop
Kinapping for Ransom, or KFR, has been largely relegated to four portions of Mindanao:
1) Cotabato City and Liguasan Marsh, covering all of Central Mindanao and points south down to GenSan, as General Santos City is known.
2) Zamboanga Peninsula, including the offshore province of Basilan,
3) Jolo Island and Tawi Tawi Province to the south of it,
4) Marawi City and both Lanao Provinces.
KFR does occur elsewhere but most cases outside of those four nexuses are opportunistic crimes unrelated to the highly organized criminal enterprises being used to fund political objectives. Of all Mindanowan Regions, Region 13, usually referred to as Caraga, has long been immune to the cancer of KFR. Those politically-related kidnappings that have occurred are almost always undertaken by the NPA. During Election Seasons the NPA taps each candidate down to the barangay level with an appeal for "Revolutionary Taxes," in what the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) cheekily calls, "Permit to Campaign" (PTC), or in the 2010 Election, "Permit to Win" (PTW).
While the recent KFR of Victor Lim Tan, the former Mayor of Carrascal, in Surigao del Sur on May 21st, 2012, was reason enough to pay close attention, another incident taking place just nine days later showed that a worrisome dynamic just may be shaping up.
Indeed, the second incident ALSO targetted a former mayor from the same region. On May 30th, 2012, the former Mayor of Placer, Charry T.Mangacop was also abducted. Mangacop had just stepped out of his Barangay Bonifacio home and was securing himself into his Mitsubishi Montero when one of two men hiding in its rear seat quickly placed a leather noose around Mangacop's neck. As Charry Mangacop began to lose consciousness the two men dragged him into the rear seat and hogtied him while pummeling him about the chest and abdomen. Once tied, Mangacop had packaging tape wrapped around his head, over his mouth, before a "bonnet"- Philippine speak for a "ski-hat"- was placed on his head and pulled down hard, over his eyes.
With Mangacop incapacitated in the rear seat, one gunman moved into the driver's seat and pulled out of Mangacop's compound at Sitio Kilometer #28, and onto National Hiway. Upon clearing the sitio.the SUV pulled over onto the shoulder of the hiway, allowing two other men, both presumably armed, to get into idling vehicle.
After a seven hour drive along Mindanao's Northern Coast, Mangacop was able to recognize Cagayan del Oro City but still the Montero continued on. Skirting Iligan City the SUV made its way into Lanao del Norte Province, and there, in an isolated jungle clearing the Montero came to a stop. Untying Mangacop's ankles, his captors ordered him to dismount from the SUV, warning him that should he attempt to escape he would be shot in the back and left to rot where he lay. Acknowledging the warning Mangacop fell in behind the two captors leading the motley crew and saw one of the four gunmen climb back into the Montero before driving away with it. Thus the group began an uphill trek in the afternoon heat.
A mid afternoon siesta in an upland clearing was interrupted by the arrival of a dozen BIAF guerillas from the 116 Base Command. Greeting Mangacop's three captors warmly, the leader of the guerilla band rudely forced Mangacop to his feet and began leading him over winding foot paths that traversed the isolated foothills that run along the Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur Provincial border. As the day turned into evening Mangacop calculated they had walked at least 10 kilometers. As stars appeared overhead the group suddenly entered a jungle clearing filled with dozens of BIAF guerillas. The BIAF, or Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces-as the armed wing of the MILF is known- receives practically no financial support from its parent organization (the MILF). Each Base Command, synonymous with a "Brigade" in a conventional military organization, is left to fend for itself. A few of the 19 Base Commands have turned to KFR to augment whatever else they manage to shake out of a terrified publics' pockets.
"Zakat," or "Charity," is one of the "Five Pillars of Islam," actions and/or attributes incumbent upon all adult Muslims. Charity in this case is conveyed as support of Islam and/or Muslims. What better way to support both Islam AND Muslims, then to support the MILF/BIAF? After all, the BIAF is fighting in defense of both, or so says the MILF/BIAF narrarative. Ergo, even the poorest of Filipino Muslims is turning their pockets inside and out, in hopes if handing over as many centavos as possible. In addition, non-Muslims are "compelled" to contribute via the BIAF's version of "Revolutionary Taxation." After all the MILF tells us, wont non-Muslims benefit just as much from MILF governance?
For some BIAF Base Commands, Zakat and Revolutionary Taxation do not come close to cutting it. Some, like the 113 (covering the Zamboanga Peninsula, some of its offshore islands and a sliver of Region 10), the population is overwhelmingly non-Muslim. Others, like the aforementioned 116, control a very small territory and are constantly under pressure from much larger and more powerful Base Commands, in this case, the 101 and 102. Forced to look elsewhere, they turn to KFR. Kidnapping for Ransom of non-Muslims is conveniently supported by "Shari'a," or Islamic Jurisprudence. In addition, kidnapping is a traditional pursuit for most of Mindanao's Islamicised Tribes.
It was after midnite, on May 31st, when Mangacop, was led to a small group of horses. Helped atop one, his horse was tethered to another, and his wrists were still tightly bound, to prevent escape. The small group then made its way onto a meandering foot path and soon left the larger group of BIAF guerillas behind. Making its way up steep hills it was soon apparent to Mangacop that they had left the foothills of the provincial border and entered the mountains...therefore it was quite clear that they had crossed the border into Lanao del Sur Province.
Just before dawn the party entered a clearing near the top of a particular mountain and came to a ramshackle nipa, as the bamboo framed and palmleaf thatched huts are known. Perched atop stilts, and offering a panoramic view of the countryside around them- it had as perfect an early warning system as one could possibly hope for should anyone think to search that forlorn corner of the island.
When Mangacop failed to return to his home that evening, his wife Luzviminda Sala Mangacop, began worrying. Although her husband had failed in his bid to gain re-election in 2010, he had plenty of pressing responsibilities. Like any politician on Mindanao, Mangacop had used his term in office to enrich himself. Among his profitmaking enterprises is a long term heavy equipment contract with Tag-anito Mining Corporation. If that name sounds at all familiar to readers it is because Tag-anito was one of the mining companies targeted in the astronomical NPA assault on Red Mountain in the municipality of Placer-yes, the very same town where Mangacop sat as Mayor-in October of 2011 (see my NPA Armed Contacts for the Fourth Quarter of 2011 entries on what was Mindanao's most economically damaging attack by the NPA yet). Six months earlier, on May 25th, 2011, the NPA's Front 16, of the Northeast Mindanao Regional Committee, or NEMRC, attacked Mangacop's compound.
On the day in question, Mangacop, his wife Luzviminda, and their driver, Jaculba Madera, were all sitting down to supper when six well armed guerillas ran into the house through its rear door. Taking all three by gunpoint, first to a neighbours home, then out to National Hiway, the other twenty-four guerillas set about divesting Mangacop of two liscenced M653s ("Baby M16s") and a 45 caliber pistol, along with an unliscenced
shotgun and second 45 caliber pistol. The NPA then burned an Isuzu dual axle dump truck worth P1.6 Million ($30,000), one Fuzo Canter mini-dump truck worth P400,000 ($9,500), one Fuzo Canter with a van body, worth P700,000 ($11,000), one Hitachi excavator, worth P1.5 Million ($30,000), and one Komatsu bulldozer, worth P1 Million ($20,000). It has been a hellish twelve months for Charry T.Magnacop.
On June 4th the KFR organization's negotiator contacted Luzviminda with the initial ransom demand. As is always the case the negotiator's opening gambit consisted of a terse demand for an astronomical sum, P300 Million ($6 Million). Long before a victim is abducted the people planning his or her kidnapping have fully investigated the intended victim's financial situation. The astronomical demand is meant to put a victim's loved ones on the defensive, to increase their feeling of vulnerability and hopelessness. Warning Luzviminda not to report the kidnapping to the authorities, the negotiator promised to call again.
To her credit, Luzviminda handled the negotiations herself and on June 13th she finally settled on P5 Million ($100,000). After using up their entire cash reserve and borrowing from family members, Luzviminda was still far short of the agreed upon sum. Finally able to secure an emergency cash loan from their primary bank, Luzviminda informed the negotiator that she was ready to pay the agreed upon sum when he next contacted her, on June 15th.
The next morning, June 16th, Luzviminda was picked up by her brother in law, Digs Mangacorp, and the two drove the same hiway that Mangacorp's captors did on May 30th when they dragged him into oblivion. Shortly after arriving in Iligan City Luzviminda received a phone call from the negotiator, instructing her to proceed to a Jollibee fastfood resturant and await further instructions. Finally, just before 2PM, a handsome, soft spoken gentleman approached them and after exchanging coded messages, he graciously accepted the bag containing the ransom, exited the store, and promptly disappeared into the afternoon crowd.
Twenty minutes later Luzviminda received yet another call from the negotiator and was informed that her husband was being released and to await his arrival, early that evening, at that very same resturant. Waiting there all day, it was just past 10PM when Luzviminda was startled by her brother in law's screaming. Looking around frantically she saw her husband outside as he exited a taxi. Much thinner and alot dirtier than she had ever seen him, Charry T.Mangacop walked slowly into.the resturant and returned to the loving embrace of his wife.
1) Cotabato City and Liguasan Marsh, covering all of Central Mindanao and points south down to GenSan, as General Santos City is known.
2) Zamboanga Peninsula, including the offshore province of Basilan,
3) Jolo Island and Tawi Tawi Province to the south of it,
4) Marawi City and both Lanao Provinces.
KFR does occur elsewhere but most cases outside of those four nexuses are opportunistic crimes unrelated to the highly organized criminal enterprises being used to fund political objectives. Of all Mindanowan Regions, Region 13, usually referred to as Caraga, has long been immune to the cancer of KFR. Those politically-related kidnappings that have occurred are almost always undertaken by the NPA. During Election Seasons the NPA taps each candidate down to the barangay level with an appeal for "Revolutionary Taxes," in what the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) cheekily calls, "Permit to Campaign" (PTC), or in the 2010 Election, "Permit to Win" (PTW).
While the recent KFR of Victor Lim Tan, the former Mayor of Carrascal, in Surigao del Sur on May 21st, 2012, was reason enough to pay close attention, another incident taking place just nine days later showed that a worrisome dynamic just may be shaping up.
Indeed, the second incident ALSO targetted a former mayor from the same region. On May 30th, 2012, the former Mayor of Placer, Charry T.Mangacop was also abducted. Mangacop had just stepped out of his Barangay Bonifacio home and was securing himself into his Mitsubishi Montero when one of two men hiding in its rear seat quickly placed a leather noose around Mangacop's neck. As Charry Mangacop began to lose consciousness the two men dragged him into the rear seat and hogtied him while pummeling him about the chest and abdomen. Once tied, Mangacop had packaging tape wrapped around his head, over his mouth, before a "bonnet"- Philippine speak for a "ski-hat"- was placed on his head and pulled down hard, over his eyes.
With Mangacop incapacitated in the rear seat, one gunman moved into the driver's seat and pulled out of Mangacop's compound at Sitio Kilometer #28, and onto National Hiway. Upon clearing the sitio.the SUV pulled over onto the shoulder of the hiway, allowing two other men, both presumably armed, to get into idling vehicle.
After a seven hour drive along Mindanao's Northern Coast, Mangacop was able to recognize Cagayan del Oro City but still the Montero continued on. Skirting Iligan City the SUV made its way into Lanao del Norte Province, and there, in an isolated jungle clearing the Montero came to a stop. Untying Mangacop's ankles, his captors ordered him to dismount from the SUV, warning him that should he attempt to escape he would be shot in the back and left to rot where he lay. Acknowledging the warning Mangacop fell in behind the two captors leading the motley crew and saw one of the four gunmen climb back into the Montero before driving away with it. Thus the group began an uphill trek in the afternoon heat.
A mid afternoon siesta in an upland clearing was interrupted by the arrival of a dozen BIAF guerillas from the 116 Base Command. Greeting Mangacop's three captors warmly, the leader of the guerilla band rudely forced Mangacop to his feet and began leading him over winding foot paths that traversed the isolated foothills that run along the Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur Provincial border. As the day turned into evening Mangacop calculated they had walked at least 10 kilometers. As stars appeared overhead the group suddenly entered a jungle clearing filled with dozens of BIAF guerillas. The BIAF, or Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces-as the armed wing of the MILF is known- receives practically no financial support from its parent organization (the MILF). Each Base Command, synonymous with a "Brigade" in a conventional military organization, is left to fend for itself. A few of the 19 Base Commands have turned to KFR to augment whatever else they manage to shake out of a terrified publics' pockets.
"Zakat," or "Charity," is one of the "Five Pillars of Islam," actions and/or attributes incumbent upon all adult Muslims. Charity in this case is conveyed as support of Islam and/or Muslims. What better way to support both Islam AND Muslims, then to support the MILF/BIAF? After all, the BIAF is fighting in defense of both, or so says the MILF/BIAF narrarative. Ergo, even the poorest of Filipino Muslims is turning their pockets inside and out, in hopes if handing over as many centavos as possible. In addition, non-Muslims are "compelled" to contribute via the BIAF's version of "Revolutionary Taxation." After all the MILF tells us, wont non-Muslims benefit just as much from MILF governance?
For some BIAF Base Commands, Zakat and Revolutionary Taxation do not come close to cutting it. Some, like the 113 (covering the Zamboanga Peninsula, some of its offshore islands and a sliver of Region 10), the population is overwhelmingly non-Muslim. Others, like the aforementioned 116, control a very small territory and are constantly under pressure from much larger and more powerful Base Commands, in this case, the 101 and 102. Forced to look elsewhere, they turn to KFR. Kidnapping for Ransom of non-Muslims is conveniently supported by "Shari'a," or Islamic Jurisprudence. In addition, kidnapping is a traditional pursuit for most of Mindanao's Islamicised Tribes.
It was after midnite, on May 31st, when Mangacop, was led to a small group of horses. Helped atop one, his horse was tethered to another, and his wrists were still tightly bound, to prevent escape. The small group then made its way onto a meandering foot path and soon left the larger group of BIAF guerillas behind. Making its way up steep hills it was soon apparent to Mangacop that they had left the foothills of the provincial border and entered the mountains...therefore it was quite clear that they had crossed the border into Lanao del Sur Province.
Just before dawn the party entered a clearing near the top of a particular mountain and came to a ramshackle nipa, as the bamboo framed and palmleaf thatched huts are known. Perched atop stilts, and offering a panoramic view of the countryside around them- it had as perfect an early warning system as one could possibly hope for should anyone think to search that forlorn corner of the island.
When Mangacop failed to return to his home that evening, his wife Luzviminda Sala Mangacop, began worrying. Although her husband had failed in his bid to gain re-election in 2010, he had plenty of pressing responsibilities. Like any politician on Mindanao, Mangacop had used his term in office to enrich himself. Among his profitmaking enterprises is a long term heavy equipment contract with Tag-anito Mining Corporation. If that name sounds at all familiar to readers it is because Tag-anito was one of the mining companies targeted in the astronomical NPA assault on Red Mountain in the municipality of Placer-yes, the very same town where Mangacop sat as Mayor-in October of 2011 (see my NPA Armed Contacts for the Fourth Quarter of 2011 entries on what was Mindanao's most economically damaging attack by the NPA yet). Six months earlier, on May 25th, 2011, the NPA's Front 16, of the Northeast Mindanao Regional Committee, or NEMRC, attacked Mangacop's compound.
On the day in question, Mangacop, his wife Luzviminda, and their driver, Jaculba Madera, were all sitting down to supper when six well armed guerillas ran into the house through its rear door. Taking all three by gunpoint, first to a neighbours home, then out to National Hiway, the other twenty-four guerillas set about divesting Mangacop of two liscenced M653s ("Baby M16s") and a 45 caliber pistol, along with an unliscenced
shotgun and second 45 caliber pistol. The NPA then burned an Isuzu dual axle dump truck worth P1.6 Million ($30,000), one Fuzo Canter mini-dump truck worth P400,000 ($9,500), one Fuzo Canter with a van body, worth P700,000 ($11,000), one Hitachi excavator, worth P1.5 Million ($30,000), and one Komatsu bulldozer, worth P1 Million ($20,000). It has been a hellish twelve months for Charry T.Magnacop.
On June 4th the KFR organization's negotiator contacted Luzviminda with the initial ransom demand. As is always the case the negotiator's opening gambit consisted of a terse demand for an astronomical sum, P300 Million ($6 Million). Long before a victim is abducted the people planning his or her kidnapping have fully investigated the intended victim's financial situation. The astronomical demand is meant to put a victim's loved ones on the defensive, to increase their feeling of vulnerability and hopelessness. Warning Luzviminda not to report the kidnapping to the authorities, the negotiator promised to call again.
To her credit, Luzviminda handled the negotiations herself and on June 13th she finally settled on P5 Million ($100,000). After using up their entire cash reserve and borrowing from family members, Luzviminda was still far short of the agreed upon sum. Finally able to secure an emergency cash loan from their primary bank, Luzviminda informed the negotiator that she was ready to pay the agreed upon sum when he next contacted her, on June 15th.
The next morning, June 16th, Luzviminda was picked up by her brother in law, Digs Mangacorp, and the two drove the same hiway that Mangacorp's captors did on May 30th when they dragged him into oblivion. Shortly after arriving in Iligan City Luzviminda received a phone call from the negotiator, instructing her to proceed to a Jollibee fastfood resturant and await further instructions. Finally, just before 2PM, a handsome, soft spoken gentleman approached them and after exchanging coded messages, he graciously accepted the bag containing the ransom, exited the store, and promptly disappeared into the afternoon crowd.
Twenty minutes later Luzviminda received yet another call from the negotiator and was informed that her husband was being released and to await his arrival, early that evening, at that very same resturant. Waiting there all day, it was just past 10PM when Luzviminda was startled by her brother in law's screaming. Looking around frantically she saw her husband outside as he exited a taxi. Much thinner and alot dirtier than she had ever seen him, Charry T.Mangacop walked slowly into.the resturant and returned to the loving embrace of his wife.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Kidnap for Ransom for the Second Quarter of 2012, Part III: Jordanian Journalist Baker Abdullah Atyani, Part 1
Journalists who choose to cover shadowy insurgent and/or terrorists assume an incredible amount of risk. Here in Mindanao there are plenty of these groups to choose from. However, only one such group has had the gall to victimize journalists, ASG, the Abu Sayyaf Group.
The case that is most discussed, when talking about ASG and its lack of compunction with journalistts is the case of Ces
Orena Drilon. Ces Drilon, as she is known professionaly, had been warned by her superiors at ABS-CBN not to personally interview ASG factional leader Kumander Radullan "Abu Putol" Sahiron, his nom de guerre a reference to the loss of his right arm in battle during his,years as an officer with the MNLF-Misuari. Elderly even then the factional leader was widely as the most approachable of the ASG factional leaders.
Relying on Professor Octavio Dinampo, of Mindanao State University at Marawi as her contact, Drilon, an assistant cameraman, Angelo Valderrama, and a cameraman, Jimmy Encarnacion left Manila and met Professor Dinampo in Zamboanga City. Dinampo, active in the NGao "Bantay Ceasefire" (Guarding the Ceasefire), is was a mid-level officer in the MNLF-Misuari, and a native of Jolo Island-in short, he was a perfect guide.
On June 7th, 2008, all four flew to Jolo together. Checking into the Sulu State College Hostel, Dinampo quickly left them as he went to meet ASG contacts to finalize plans for the envisioned interview with Abu Putol, to take place the following day, Monday, June 9th.
Per the instructions of ABS-CBN's Director of News Gathering, Chari Villa, Drilon was to prepare her questions for Putol in written form. Then, Professor Dinampo alone would travel alone to Putol's stronghold in the foothills outside the municipality of Patikul...verifying that he had indeed met with the ASG factional leader by taking some photos with a small camera Drilon would pass to him. However, when, on Monday morning, Dimampo stopped by her room to tell her his ride was waiting downstairs, Drilon quickly summoned her cameraman and soundman and joined Dinampo on the ride to Indanan, where they would meet ASG members who would escort them to Patikul. Drilon later claimed that her decision had been an impulsive one, and that she had been entirely sincere when she had aceded to Chari Villa's directive forbidding her and her crew from actually travelling to the ASG stronghold.
Climbing into a battered white multicab, Drilon, her crew, and Professor Dinampo began the slow drive to Patikul. Transferring to a Toyota Tamaraw outside of Jolo City, the group continued on, driving along the coast. Along with its driver, Maramo Hashim, was "Guide" Juamil "Maming" Biyaw, who was to lead the group to the ASG camp where Abu Putol would receive them. Arriving in the municipality of Maimbung, the Toyota turned onto a dirt road in Barangay Labbah and soon stopped on the side of the road, at the foot of a steep mountain, next to the Ajid River.
From Barangay Labbah the plan was to hike to Mount Mabusing, and then onward through the adjacent barangays of Datu Ugis and Kapuk Punggul before finally emerging in Barangay Kulasi where they would ascend to the ASG encampment. About a kilometer into the jungle the group came to a small clearing where eight ASG guerillas from another faction, led by Kumander Gafur Jumdail (younger brother of another faction leader Gumbahali "Dr.Abu"Umbra Jumdail) were resting. Biyaw quickly explained to Professor Dinampo thay the men were also members of ASG and would be going with them to Abu Putol's camp.
After an hour of walking a torrential downpour began. Soon coming to an abandoned "nipa," a bamboo framed and palmleaf thatched hut, in which they took shelter. As three of the guerillas stood sullenly between Drilon's group and the door, a heated conversation between Biyaw and the other five guerillas suddenly ended with Biyaw motioning to Professor Dinampo to get the group ready, they would continue on with the eight guerillas but now Biyaw would be going on ahead alone because Abu Putol had requested it.
Biyaw did not travel on to the ASG camp. Instead, he circled around Drilon's group, returning to the vehicle to join their driver, Maramo Hashim, and there he would wait for the group to return. Later he would say he sat with Hashim for four hours before both drove off, suspecting that Drilon and her group had ran into unforseen difficulties. Hashim begged to differ, saying that Biyaw emerged from the jungle and sternly ordered him to leave, which he promptly did.
Meanwhile, after leaving the nipa, Ces Drilon, her two man crew and Professor Octavio Dinampo followed the eight guerilas several more kilometers until they suddenly entered a small encampment under the command of sub-Kumaner Sulayman "Abu Haris" Patta, who occasionaly used the nom de guerre "Kumander Tek." Like Abu Putol, Abu Haris had lost an arm in an encounter with the AFP. Unlike Abu Putol however, Haris had had his "encounter" when he was just five years old. In an AFP ambush the vehicle he was riding in had been peppered with small arms fire. Alive but critically wounded, Haris had had his arm amputated.
If they had had no inkling during their long trek, upon emerging into the ASG encampment on the slopes of Bud Daho there could be mistaking that instead of arriving as honored guests of the Abu Sayyaf, they were being held hostage. Luckily, cameraman Angelo Valderrama had been surreptitiously videotaping the long trek, footage that would be a godsend in the subsequent investigation. Using Drilon's cell phone, Abu Sayyaf contacted her family, opening negotiations with a ransom demand of P20 Million. Shoring up their options the captors then contacted Drilon's employer, the ABS-CBN network. When, on day three, Drilon's cell phone died, Abu Haris had Drilon's SIM card switched to an ASG phone.
Haris warned Drilon that since she was a northener, and time was of the essence, she should advise her family to find a local intemediary to act as their negotiator in the ransom discussions though, he also warned, the figure of P20 Million was non-negotiable. With the figure given, all that remained was the negotiation of the payoff. One of the local politicians who had stayed in close contact with the Drilon Family was Lady Anne Sahidula, the Vice Govto pernor of Sulu Province. When Ces drummed home the importance of a local representative, the family quickly decided to place all its trust in the Vice Governor. This choice seemed to anger Abu Haris, who had also warned Drilon not to rely on any politicians, since all were corrupt thieves. Not one to follow his own counsel, Haris was relying on another local politician to negotiate on his behalf, Mayor Alvarez Isnaji.
To be continued in in Part 2
The case that is most discussed, when talking about ASG and its lack of compunction with journalistts is the case of Ces
Orena Drilon. Ces Drilon, as she is known professionaly, had been warned by her superiors at ABS-CBN not to personally interview ASG factional leader Kumander Radullan "Abu Putol" Sahiron, his nom de guerre a reference to the loss of his right arm in battle during his,years as an officer with the MNLF-Misuari. Elderly even then the factional leader was widely as the most approachable of the ASG factional leaders.
Relying on Professor Octavio Dinampo, of Mindanao State University at Marawi as her contact, Drilon, an assistant cameraman, Angelo Valderrama, and a cameraman, Jimmy Encarnacion left Manila and met Professor Dinampo in Zamboanga City. Dinampo, active in the NGao "Bantay Ceasefire" (Guarding the Ceasefire), is was a mid-level officer in the MNLF-Misuari, and a native of Jolo Island-in short, he was a perfect guide.
On June 7th, 2008, all four flew to Jolo together. Checking into the Sulu State College Hostel, Dinampo quickly left them as he went to meet ASG contacts to finalize plans for the envisioned interview with Abu Putol, to take place the following day, Monday, June 9th.
Per the instructions of ABS-CBN's Director of News Gathering, Chari Villa, Drilon was to prepare her questions for Putol in written form. Then, Professor Dinampo alone would travel alone to Putol's stronghold in the foothills outside the municipality of Patikul...verifying that he had indeed met with the ASG factional leader by taking some photos with a small camera Drilon would pass to him. However, when, on Monday morning, Dimampo stopped by her room to tell her his ride was waiting downstairs, Drilon quickly summoned her cameraman and soundman and joined Dinampo on the ride to Indanan, where they would meet ASG members who would escort them to Patikul. Drilon later claimed that her decision had been an impulsive one, and that she had been entirely sincere when she had aceded to Chari Villa's directive forbidding her and her crew from actually travelling to the ASG stronghold.
Climbing into a battered white multicab, Drilon, her crew, and Professor Dinampo began the slow drive to Patikul. Transferring to a Toyota Tamaraw outside of Jolo City, the group continued on, driving along the coast. Along with its driver, Maramo Hashim, was "Guide" Juamil "Maming" Biyaw, who was to lead the group to the ASG camp where Abu Putol would receive them. Arriving in the municipality of Maimbung, the Toyota turned onto a dirt road in Barangay Labbah and soon stopped on the side of the road, at the foot of a steep mountain, next to the Ajid River.
From Barangay Labbah the plan was to hike to Mount Mabusing, and then onward through the adjacent barangays of Datu Ugis and Kapuk Punggul before finally emerging in Barangay Kulasi where they would ascend to the ASG encampment. About a kilometer into the jungle the group came to a small clearing where eight ASG guerillas from another faction, led by Kumander Gafur Jumdail (younger brother of another faction leader Gumbahali "Dr.Abu"Umbra Jumdail) were resting. Biyaw quickly explained to Professor Dinampo thay the men were also members of ASG and would be going with them to Abu Putol's camp.
After an hour of walking a torrential downpour began. Soon coming to an abandoned "nipa," a bamboo framed and palmleaf thatched hut, in which they took shelter. As three of the guerillas stood sullenly between Drilon's group and the door, a heated conversation between Biyaw and the other five guerillas suddenly ended with Biyaw motioning to Professor Dinampo to get the group ready, they would continue on with the eight guerillas but now Biyaw would be going on ahead alone because Abu Putol had requested it.
Biyaw did not travel on to the ASG camp. Instead, he circled around Drilon's group, returning to the vehicle to join their driver, Maramo Hashim, and there he would wait for the group to return. Later he would say he sat with Hashim for four hours before both drove off, suspecting that Drilon and her group had ran into unforseen difficulties. Hashim begged to differ, saying that Biyaw emerged from the jungle and sternly ordered him to leave, which he promptly did.
Meanwhile, after leaving the nipa, Ces Drilon, her two man crew and Professor Octavio Dinampo followed the eight guerilas several more kilometers until they suddenly entered a small encampment under the command of sub-Kumaner Sulayman "Abu Haris" Patta, who occasionaly used the nom de guerre "Kumander Tek." Like Abu Putol, Abu Haris had lost an arm in an encounter with the AFP. Unlike Abu Putol however, Haris had had his "encounter" when he was just five years old. In an AFP ambush the vehicle he was riding in had been peppered with small arms fire. Alive but critically wounded, Haris had had his arm amputated.
If they had had no inkling during their long trek, upon emerging into the ASG encampment on the slopes of Bud Daho there could be mistaking that instead of arriving as honored guests of the Abu Sayyaf, they were being held hostage. Luckily, cameraman Angelo Valderrama had been surreptitiously videotaping the long trek, footage that would be a godsend in the subsequent investigation. Using Drilon's cell phone, Abu Sayyaf contacted her family, opening negotiations with a ransom demand of P20 Million. Shoring up their options the captors then contacted Drilon's employer, the ABS-CBN network. When, on day three, Drilon's cell phone died, Abu Haris had Drilon's SIM card switched to an ASG phone.
Haris warned Drilon that since she was a northener, and time was of the essence, she should advise her family to find a local intemediary to act as their negotiator in the ransom discussions though, he also warned, the figure of P20 Million was non-negotiable. With the figure given, all that remained was the negotiation of the payoff. One of the local politicians who had stayed in close contact with the Drilon Family was Lady Anne Sahidula, the Vice Govto pernor of Sulu Province. When Ces drummed home the importance of a local representative, the family quickly decided to place all its trust in the Vice Governor. This choice seemed to anger Abu Haris, who had also warned Drilon not to rely on any politicians, since all were corrupt thieves. Not one to follow his own counsel, Haris was relying on another local politician to negotiate on his behalf, Mayor Alvarez Isnaji.
To be continued in in Part 2
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Kidnap for Ransom for the First Quarter of 2012, Part III:.The Strange Fate of Japanese Victim Toshio Ito
In a Third Quarter of 2010 entry I discussed the KFR, or Kidnap for Ransom, of Japanese expatriate Toshio Ito. Ito arrived in the Philippines in 2000. The 54 year old man from Hiroshima brought his life savings with him and sought to re-invent himself as so many expatriates in the Philippines seem to do.
Travelling south Ito established himself in Dumaguete, on Negros Island. Via an internet dating site Ito met a nubile teenaged Filipina from Misamis Occidental Province on Mindanao. Travelling to our fair isle in 2002 Mr.Ito made his way to his paramour's hometown, Plaridel. It was in Plaridel that Toshio Ito began calling himself Katayama Mamaito. Believing he had found the love of his life, Mr.Ito invested all his life savings in a home for the young lady and her family, and in a sand and gravel business to keep them all afloat.
By 2004 both his love life and his business had gone belly up. His young Filipina not only left him, she kept the house Ito had bought- since it is illegal for foreigners to buy land (though they CAN inherit it from a deceased spouse-in the young lady's name. Adding the proverbial insult to injury, Ito's ex-girlfriend then began a relationship with a Westerner who then promptly moved into Ito's home, ex-home, you get the picture...
As many might, Toshio Ito took a dive off the deep end. One day, soused on "tuba," the local rotgut, Ito broke into the house. Though only Ito knows what he had in mind, the young lady's maid-paid for out of money stolen from Ito's failed sand and gravel business- spotted the drunk man and alerted a next door neighbour. This being Mindanao after all, the neighbour grabbed his trusted M14 and quickly confronted Ito who collapsed im gut wrenching sobs.
Incarcerated in the Plaridel City Jail, Toshio Ito cum Katayama Mamaito, spent the next seven days lying in what to most readers would be unimaginable filth. Finally, his few local friends pooled their money to bail their poor friend out of jail. Toshio Ito promptly repaid the kindness of his friends by absconding and forfeiting their bail...that is...after he borrowed still more money.
Making his way to a low rent hostel in Zamboanga City, Ito then did what Toshio Ito apparently does best, he wallowed in self pity, told his "woe unto me" sob stories to anybody who even glanced at him, and attempted to once again live off of the misplaced kindness of strangers. Ito didnt have much luck in that last endeavour, at least until he ran across a middle aged Sama woman from Pangaturan Island. In town for a medical exam, the woman was about to sit down to lunch when she made the terrible mistake of listening to Toshio Ito's sad lament. Inviting the pitiful man to join her, her treat of course, the two had a long and meandering conversation. Hearing why the woman was in Zamboanga City, Ito, like any adept conman, introduced himself as Dr.Katayama Mamaito, of Hiroshima, though since his wife had died in a terrible train wreck, he had lost everything as he spiraled into the abyss of depression. By the end of the meal the two were getting on like long lost friends.
At the woman's insistence, Ito spoke with her husband by phone. A retired village politician, the man insisted Ito join his wife for the trip south to Pangaturan, and to honor them by becoming their treasured house guest. Ito didnt have many options at this point, in fact, with just two days left at the hostel, he had no options whatsoever. So it was that Toshio Ito, a penniless Japanese man, ended up living in a remote corner of Sulu Province.
On Pangaturan it didnt take Ito long to figure out the surest way to ingratiate himself with his new host, a mid-ranking officer in the MNLF-Misuari. Studying Islam, Ito announced that he had seen the light and was now ready to accept the true faith, Islam. Converting in front of the entire population of Pangaturan's Barangay Bangkilay, he took the name Ameer (Prince, usually spelled "Emir"), a common name for male converts. Dr.Ameer Katayama Mamaito next gained entry into the MNLF-Misuari and was assigned as a medic. Pleased beyond measure, Ito's new hosts readily agreed when their houseguest hit them up for seed money to open a small pharmacy in that barangay's Sitio Bas.
From 2004 until 2010, Ito led a quiet and unassuming life. Perhaps the forlorn man had finally found what all of us seek, a loving home. He was respected in his community, so much so that his friends in the MNLF, learning that Ito had run afoul of Philippine Visa Regulations, obtained a black market birth certificate from crooked officials in Marawi City on Mainland Mindanao. However, not everybody was so taken with Toshio Ito. Younger men had begun circulating rumors that Ito was a Deep Penetration Agent out to spy on the MNLF. Despite his many defenders in the community, the aituation continued to worsen and on the evening of July 16th, 2010, it came to a head.
Ito was dragged out of his bed at just past 10PM that evening by ten young men carrying assault rifles. Frog marching Ito to a mangrove Ito must have been sure that his luck had finally run out. Instead of executing the frightened Japanese man however, the young men forced Ito into an idling pumoboat which then castoff and sailed for Jolo Island.
For a year and a half little was known about Toshio Ito's fate, other then he had been handed off to subordinates of MNLF-Misuari commander, Kumander Ustadz Habir Malik upon making landfall on Jolo. It was also known that the MNLF had turned a fast profit by selling Ito to the ASG, or the Abu Sayyaf Group. Held by the faction led by Kumander Ninok Sappari, who when not keeping Ito's hands tightly bound with rope, compels the emaciated captive to cook whatever livestock they have stolen.
Because Ito cooks, Police Provincial Office for Sulu Province (PPO-Sulu), via its Director, Senior Superintendent Antonio Freyra, has gone on the record as saying that Toshio Ito is now a full fledged member of ASG. Given Ito's nefarious past it is not difficult at all to understand just why PPO-Sulu has sought the easy way out of meeting its responsibilities in this case. Not suprisingly, the Japanese Embassy has likewise abdicated its responsibilities. On March 14th, 2012, the PNP, or Philippine National Police, officially removed Toshio Ito from its roster of KFR victims and re-classified him as a member of ASG. Talk about "Stockholm Syndrome" gone bad. In fact, he exists in a grey netherworld where his captors, having shelled out cash to buy him from the MNLF, are reluctant to release him without even a minimal net profit. On the other hand, executing Ito, the normal course of events in such cases, is not a realistic option given Ito's conversion to Islam. So, for the forseeable future, Toshio Ito's life will remain a living hell.
Travelling south Ito established himself in Dumaguete, on Negros Island. Via an internet dating site Ito met a nubile teenaged Filipina from Misamis Occidental Province on Mindanao. Travelling to our fair isle in 2002 Mr.Ito made his way to his paramour's hometown, Plaridel. It was in Plaridel that Toshio Ito began calling himself Katayama Mamaito. Believing he had found the love of his life, Mr.Ito invested all his life savings in a home for the young lady and her family, and in a sand and gravel business to keep them all afloat.
By 2004 both his love life and his business had gone belly up. His young Filipina not only left him, she kept the house Ito had bought- since it is illegal for foreigners to buy land (though they CAN inherit it from a deceased spouse-in the young lady's name. Adding the proverbial insult to injury, Ito's ex-girlfriend then began a relationship with a Westerner who then promptly moved into Ito's home, ex-home, you get the picture...
As many might, Toshio Ito took a dive off the deep end. One day, soused on "tuba," the local rotgut, Ito broke into the house. Though only Ito knows what he had in mind, the young lady's maid-paid for out of money stolen from Ito's failed sand and gravel business- spotted the drunk man and alerted a next door neighbour. This being Mindanao after all, the neighbour grabbed his trusted M14 and quickly confronted Ito who collapsed im gut wrenching sobs.
Incarcerated in the Plaridel City Jail, Toshio Ito cum Katayama Mamaito, spent the next seven days lying in what to most readers would be unimaginable filth. Finally, his few local friends pooled their money to bail their poor friend out of jail. Toshio Ito promptly repaid the kindness of his friends by absconding and forfeiting their bail...that is...after he borrowed still more money.
Making his way to a low rent hostel in Zamboanga City, Ito then did what Toshio Ito apparently does best, he wallowed in self pity, told his "woe unto me" sob stories to anybody who even glanced at him, and attempted to once again live off of the misplaced kindness of strangers. Ito didnt have much luck in that last endeavour, at least until he ran across a middle aged Sama woman from Pangaturan Island. In town for a medical exam, the woman was about to sit down to lunch when she made the terrible mistake of listening to Toshio Ito's sad lament. Inviting the pitiful man to join her, her treat of course, the two had a long and meandering conversation. Hearing why the woman was in Zamboanga City, Ito, like any adept conman, introduced himself as Dr.Katayama Mamaito, of Hiroshima, though since his wife had died in a terrible train wreck, he had lost everything as he spiraled into the abyss of depression. By the end of the meal the two were getting on like long lost friends.
At the woman's insistence, Ito spoke with her husband by phone. A retired village politician, the man insisted Ito join his wife for the trip south to Pangaturan, and to honor them by becoming their treasured house guest. Ito didnt have many options at this point, in fact, with just two days left at the hostel, he had no options whatsoever. So it was that Toshio Ito, a penniless Japanese man, ended up living in a remote corner of Sulu Province.
On Pangaturan it didnt take Ito long to figure out the surest way to ingratiate himself with his new host, a mid-ranking officer in the MNLF-Misuari. Studying Islam, Ito announced that he had seen the light and was now ready to accept the true faith, Islam. Converting in front of the entire population of Pangaturan's Barangay Bangkilay, he took the name Ameer (Prince, usually spelled "Emir"), a common name for male converts. Dr.Ameer Katayama Mamaito next gained entry into the MNLF-Misuari and was assigned as a medic. Pleased beyond measure, Ito's new hosts readily agreed when their houseguest hit them up for seed money to open a small pharmacy in that barangay's Sitio Bas.
From 2004 until 2010, Ito led a quiet and unassuming life. Perhaps the forlorn man had finally found what all of us seek, a loving home. He was respected in his community, so much so that his friends in the MNLF, learning that Ito had run afoul of Philippine Visa Regulations, obtained a black market birth certificate from crooked officials in Marawi City on Mainland Mindanao. However, not everybody was so taken with Toshio Ito. Younger men had begun circulating rumors that Ito was a Deep Penetration Agent out to spy on the MNLF. Despite his many defenders in the community, the aituation continued to worsen and on the evening of July 16th, 2010, it came to a head.
Ito was dragged out of his bed at just past 10PM that evening by ten young men carrying assault rifles. Frog marching Ito to a mangrove Ito must have been sure that his luck had finally run out. Instead of executing the frightened Japanese man however, the young men forced Ito into an idling pumoboat which then castoff and sailed for Jolo Island.
For a year and a half little was known about Toshio Ito's fate, other then he had been handed off to subordinates of MNLF-Misuari commander, Kumander Ustadz Habir Malik upon making landfall on Jolo. It was also known that the MNLF had turned a fast profit by selling Ito to the ASG, or the Abu Sayyaf Group. Held by the faction led by Kumander Ninok Sappari, who when not keeping Ito's hands tightly bound with rope, compels the emaciated captive to cook whatever livestock they have stolen.
Because Ito cooks, Police Provincial Office for Sulu Province (PPO-Sulu), via its Director, Senior Superintendent Antonio Freyra, has gone on the record as saying that Toshio Ito is now a full fledged member of ASG. Given Ito's nefarious past it is not difficult at all to understand just why PPO-Sulu has sought the easy way out of meeting its responsibilities in this case. Not suprisingly, the Japanese Embassy has likewise abdicated its responsibilities. On March 14th, 2012, the PNP, or Philippine National Police, officially removed Toshio Ito from its roster of KFR victims and re-classified him as a member of ASG. Talk about "Stockholm Syndrome" gone bad. In fact, he exists in a grey netherworld where his captors, having shelled out cash to buy him from the MNLF, are reluctant to release him without even a minimal net profit. On the other hand, executing Ito, the normal course of events in such cases, is not a realistic option given Ito's conversion to Islam. So, for the forseeable future, Toshio Ito's life will remain a living hell.
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, June 14, 2012
Kidnap for Ransom for the First Quarter of 2012, Part I: The Abduction of Two European Naturalists in Tawi Tawi Province
The Tawi Tawi island group, an offshore province of Mindanao, forms the southernmost province in the Philippines. Originally part of Sulu Province, gaining its independent provincial status in 1973, Tawi Tawi has developed a character all its own. The dominant ethnicity, the Sama, with all its disparate offshoots- from the Jama Mapun to the Sama Ubia- offer Tawi Tawi a distinctive character far different from Jolo, the central island in the adjacent province of Sulu. Jolo, and Sulu as a whole, is dominated by the Tausugs, a group that migrated from Butuan, by way of Basilan, six to seven centuries ago.
Tausug culture revolves around an honor code that governs mosy every aspect of male life. Known as "Adat" (akin to the "Kanun" of the Albanians or "Pashtunwali" of the Pashtun of Pakistan and Afghanistan), the code requires violent remedies for any afront to personal dignity or family honor. The result is a warrior culture, that has come to dominate not only the Tausug's adopted home of Jolo, but the offshore province of Basilan as well. The Sama, most offshoots anyway, are peaceful and seek co-existence with the Tausug at almost any cost. Tawi Tawi then has largely avoided the violence-including the Islamic Insurgencies- that have plagued both Jolo and Basilan for decades (actually centuries if one looks at the larger picture).
Piracy and KFR, or Kidnap for Ransom, have deep roots in the Tausug culture. This has been re-inforced by the introduction of Islam to the region just prior to the Tausu migration. Ransoming captives, non-Muslims anyway- is legal within Shari'a (Islamic Jurisprudence). Granted, most members of ASG (Abu Sayyaf Group) can barely read and write in their native languages, let alone Arabic, but there ARE a few who are highly educated, usually via scholarships offered by Middle Eastern nations. Therefore, fluent in Arabic and well versed in Shari'a, they offer up a precious Islamic rationalization that segues perfectly with ingrained cultural practices. Within Islam, the operative issue is the faith of a potential captive (must be a non-Muslim), and the existence of a state of war. I think anyone would be hardpressed to deny that Mindanao has been in just such a state, albeit ebbing and flowing, since pre-history. Indeed, it was a war in Butuan that drove the Tausug out of Mainland Mindanao and into Basilan (and shortly thereafter, Jolo).
The Sama though, have a very different culture. Aside from the Sama Ubian, who are actually Dayaks from Borneo who adapated to Sama influences, the culture is one of appeasement, and in the case of Jolo, subservience (so much for the ridiculous myth of Bangsamoro peoplehood..). One exception to this "culture of appeasement" are the Balangingi, a Sama group from the island of Balangingi who managed to dominate piracy in the Sulu and Celebes Seas until a genocidal attack by the Spanish Military in 1848 virtually destroyed the group.
Although the Tausug did not settle in Tawi Tawi in any great numbers, they continued their political, economic and cultural domination of Tawi Tawi. The subsequent "culture of appeasement" that developed amongst the Sama has for the most part, rendered Tawi Tawi far more sedate, and offers visitors a much greater sense of security. So much so in fact, that intrepid travellers, including Westerners, continue to visit the small island group without bothering to arrange any special security detail, as would be par for the course in Sulu (Jolo included), Basilan, and even in many parts of Mainland Mindanao.
Such was the case of two European taxidermists who share a deep interest in Birding, a pasttime that most refer to as "Birdwatching." 52 year old Ewold Horn left his home in Den Andel, in Groningen, Holland and met his friend and professional colleague Lorenzo Vinciguerra for a long awaited trip to the Southern Philippines. Vinciguerra, aged 47, owns a profitable taxidermy business in the town of Grub, in Switzerland, and like Horn he enjoys Birding more than he did his chosen trade, stuffing dead animals into likelike poses.
They planned on spotting, and hopefully photographing, several rare Philippine birds in what was to be a 14 day vacation. The highlight of this dream get away was a little known bitd endemic to just two of the 307 islands in the Tawi Tawi island group (and Jolo, now only existing on Mainland Tawi Tawi in a tiny area), the Sulu Hornbill (Anthracoceros Montani). The bird is considered to be on the verge of extinction with an estimated population of 27 adults. Such rarity renders the bird a hot item in the world of Birding. Indeed, the two men had travelled to Tawi Tawi in 1996 in hopes of catching a glimpse only to have their hopes dashed due to the sector being made off limits to foreigners while the AFP, or Armed Forces of the Philippines, undertook a security operation against the ASG.
Arriving in Zamboanga City on Saturday, January 28th, 2012, the two men rendevouzed with a Filipino Birding enthusiast, 32 year old Ivan Sardenas. Sardenas, a residentof Davao City had recently spent considerable time in Tawi Tawi as he sought to establish himself as a guide for nature enthusiasts. It was Sardenas who had put in the legwork in locating the latest sightings of the highly endangered bird and who then pre-arranged security for their expedition. Early Sunday morning, January 29th, the three men boarded a plane in Zamboanga City fora 45 minute flight to Bongao, the capital of Tawi Tawi.
At their hotel Ivan Sadenas called ahead to the municipality of Panglima Sugala, where four of the birds had been sighted in recent months. The Mayor's righthand man recommended that Sardenas employ Municipal Councilor Nestor
Camilo Cabarrubias Sr. as a local guide, and that the Councilor himself would then arrange the expedition's security using police officers from the MPO, or Municipal Police Office. Sardenas didnt have much choice in the matter but dis make the man aware that the expedition wasnt well funded and that the Security Detail would have to take this into account.
Leaving Bongao's Chinese Pier by motorbanca, Philippine speak for "motorized skiff," the group slowly skirted the coast of Mainland Tawi Tawi until reaching Panglima Sugala in the middle of the elongated island's coast. As the men disembarked and began wading through the surf the boat opetator repeated that he would be returning to that same spot to pick them up for their return trip on Wednesday, February 1st, three days hence. Casting off while wishing them luck, the party began carrying their gear through Barangay Bato Bato, the town center, or "Poblacion." As the group atrived at Municipal Hall they were greeted warmly by Councilor Cabarrubias and a lone UNARMED police officer who would be serving as the expedition's paltry "Security Detail."
After a very short meet and greet with town dignitaries the expedition piled into an SUV belonging to the Municipal Government, the expedition made its way to Tubig Malum, or as the Philippine Governmen refers to it, the Rio Hondo River. Parking the vehicle, to be retrieved later by other police officers, the group forded the river and began their tedious hike upcountry to Mount Balik Sampan where the expedition would sped the next three days encamped as the two Europeans and Ivan Sadenas would do their best to photograph their quarry, the Sulu Hornbill.
Wednesday, February 1st arrived and the expedition, having failed to even sight the elusive bird, re-packed their gear and began hiking back down to Tubig Malum where they were to part ways with their "Security Detail." Once at the river , Horn, Vinciguerra, and Sadenas began following it into Barangay Parangan. In that barangay's Sitio Luuk Luuk the three men were suprised, but elated to find the skiff was moored waiting for them, moored just off shore. It didnt take long at all to load the gear aboard and at just after 120PM the boat started its engine and turned back towards Bongao, where the three men hoped to spend a quiet evening back at the hotel, resting in comfort before the next day's flight back to Zamboanga City.
As the boat made its way offshore to skirt all the outriggers of fishermen and seaweed farmers, a pumpboat turned into the lane behind them. Within minutes everybody onboard the skiff was on edge, how much more so when the pumpboat pulled closer and Sadenas noticed the dual barrels of an M16 rifle fitted out with an M203 grenade launcher er. Before long the men in the pumpboat began screaming at the skiff and vigirously motioning with their arms, waving their assault rifles in a menacing fashion. However, it wasnt until a few rounds were fired over their heads that the skiff's operator began dejectedly easing off its throttle.
The pumpboat quickly pulled parallel before two men aboard it hooked the crafts together. Four gunmen quickly came aboard the skiff and pointed their barrels at all four men, motioning for Horn, Vinciguerra, and Sadenas to transfer themselves and their gear to the pumpboat. Forcing the fourth man, the boat opetator, to turn off his idling engine, they then snatched his keys, stole two of his batteries and forced him over the side at gunpoint.
Back aboard the pumpboat, the three captives were forced under a blue plastic tarp covering the foresection almost to.the bow. Quickly throttling up the pumpboat turned around as if to travel back towards Panglima Sugala. Before reaching that town's municipal boundry however, it veered into a "bakawan," or mangrove, where it rendevouzed with a second pumpboat with a markedly different appearance. Once again secured under a blue plastic tarp, the small craft turned out to sea and gunned its engines.
As the second pumpboat entered the waters off of the municipality of Languyan, an offshore islet came into view, pylling parallel to it the boat slowed considerably and finally began idling. Within ten minutes a third, larger pumpboat came at a high rate of speed from the fishing grounds just off of the town. Pulling abreast, the five gunmen aboatd received the three captives and their gear and as was the case twice before, Horn, Vinciguerra, and Sadenas wete forced out of sight under a blue plastic tarp. As this third pumpboat nosed itself out to sea the three captives took stock of their situation; with them under the tarp were three liter containers of fresh water and 55 gallon drums of fuel. With the boat heading out to the sealanes, and seeing a large cachet of fresh water and fuel, it was clear that they erre heading into a Sulu Province, and the ASG (Abu Sayyaf Group) base of operations, Jolo Island.
Ivan Sadenas knew well that it was the Europeans that their captors valued. Coming from a poor family and being a Christian Filipino, his life was worth practically nothing once the five gunmen handed them off to their cohorts on Jolo. Thinking fast, Sadenas told his two companions that he was thinking about making.a run for it by throwing himdelf ovrtboard. Promising the Horn and Vinciguerra that he would alert the authorities, he quietly lifted the edge of the tarp and saw that the five gunmen were busy amongst themselves. Making his way to the opposite side of the tarp he once again quietly lifted an edge and discovered that they were only 1,000 meters off of Mainland Tawi Tawi, smack dab in the middle of fishing grounds as the pumpboat sought cover as it made its way to a busier shipping lane.
Quickly realizing that the fishing grounds represented a great opportunity since witnesses would inhibit a violent reaction from his captors...at least he prayed it would...Sadenas lifted the tarp enough to climb up over the side of tge boat and quickly dove into the azure sea. Diving down as far as he could Ivan Sadenas furiously swam as far as he could until he felt his lungs would burst. Surfacing, desperate for air, he was shocked (and relieved) to find that the boat hadnt even slowed down. He was free, if he could make his way to shore anyway.
Waving his arms as he bobbed in the water, Sadenas quickly caught the attention of an outrigger crewed by three fishermen. Dragging the elated man aboard, the fishermen were able to piece together Sadena's story through gestures and.a few mutually intelligible words. The outrigger made its way to Panglima Sugala where Ivan Sadenas quickly summoned the police. Taking his report the MPO quickly notified the Police Provincial Office, or PPO. Per protocols, PPO-Tawi Tawi immediately notified the AFP's Naval Task Force 62 (TF-62) which handles all seaborne incidents in Tawi Tawi and the waters seperating that province from Borneo.
TF-62 consists of a tender and four patrol boats, along with personnel from MBLT-5 (Marine Battalion Landing Team #5). Despite this capable force, and.cordon it implenented around Mainland Tawi Tawi's eastern and northern coasts, the third pumpboat and the two Europeans, Ewold Horn and Lorenzo Vinciguerra, remained undiscovered. Within two days Governor Sadikul Sahali deployed a 2,000 man search party to comb Mainland Tawi Tawi's 275 square kilometers of jungle, within which Panglima Sugala sits. PPO-Tawi Tawi Director, Superintendent Rodelio Jocson, Chairperson of the Governor's Crisis Management Committee, the requisite entity empaneled to co-ordinate all Governmental responses to the kidnapping, wasted no time in going to the media and accusing Councilman Nestor Camilo Cabarrubias Sr. and his handpicked municipal police officer were pulling the strings on an "inside job."
Superintendent Jocson was naturally asked to elaborate. His bombshell? With a snide conspiratorial grimace, Jocson observed that when the expedition's motorbanca was overtaken by the first pumpboat, neither Councilor Cabarrubias nor the police officer were present, having left the expedition at the river. Of course that is absolutely ridiculous given the fact that the abduction occurred as the men were returning to Bongao. Why would Cabarrubias and the officer be aboard when their "services" had only been secured for Panglima Sugala?
The actual culprit was MNLF-Misuari officer, Kumander Sahi Tali, via his footsoldiers in and around Panglima Sugala. There arent many employment opportunnities in the province and the tourists coming to Panglima Sugala have helped to spawn a healthy cottage industry amongst young men from the immediate area. amany such youth are members of the MNLF-Misuari, a group ostensibly at peace with Manila although it is tenuous, if not an outright fantasy. One of tgese young men, Mustapha Muallam, bent at losing his P250 ($5.50) fee, contacted his immediate superior within the MNLF, who in turn got the go ahead from an underling of Kumander Tali. Tali's own superior, Kumander Habir Malik on Jolo, wanted to turn an easy profit.
The official narrative has the third pumpboat having turned back to Mainland Tawi Tawi after rough seas and a shortage of fuel convince the MNLF guerillas to try again another day. In reality there was no shortage of fuel as the vessel carried several spare drums. Moreover, people on Jolo saw the pumpboat land off of the municipality of Patikul on Jolo. Once on Jolo, Kumander Tali quickly sold both Europeans to Kumamder Yasset Igasan, leader of an ASG faction operating in the hills around Patikul.
Having only found the burned remnants of that first pumpboat in the mamgrove where it had transferred the captives, Governor Sahali finally conceeded that even the Dutch and Swiss Embassies no longer believed that thetwo men remained on Tawi Tawi. Sheepishly demobilizing the Crisis Management.Committee, the Governor them tossed the ball to his counterpart in Sulu, Governor Abdursakur Tan. PPO-Sulu however refused to even consider the possibility.
Tausug culture revolves around an honor code that governs mosy every aspect of male life. Known as "Adat" (akin to the "Kanun" of the Albanians or "Pashtunwali" of the Pashtun of Pakistan and Afghanistan), the code requires violent remedies for any afront to personal dignity or family honor. The result is a warrior culture, that has come to dominate not only the Tausug's adopted home of Jolo, but the offshore province of Basilan as well. The Sama, most offshoots anyway, are peaceful and seek co-existence with the Tausug at almost any cost. Tawi Tawi then has largely avoided the violence-including the Islamic Insurgencies- that have plagued both Jolo and Basilan for decades (actually centuries if one looks at the larger picture).
Piracy and KFR, or Kidnap for Ransom, have deep roots in the Tausug culture. This has been re-inforced by the introduction of Islam to the region just prior to the Tausu migration. Ransoming captives, non-Muslims anyway- is legal within Shari'a (Islamic Jurisprudence). Granted, most members of ASG (Abu Sayyaf Group) can barely read and write in their native languages, let alone Arabic, but there ARE a few who are highly educated, usually via scholarships offered by Middle Eastern nations. Therefore, fluent in Arabic and well versed in Shari'a, they offer up a precious Islamic rationalization that segues perfectly with ingrained cultural practices. Within Islam, the operative issue is the faith of a potential captive (must be a non-Muslim), and the existence of a state of war. I think anyone would be hardpressed to deny that Mindanao has been in just such a state, albeit ebbing and flowing, since pre-history. Indeed, it was a war in Butuan that drove the Tausug out of Mainland Mindanao and into Basilan (and shortly thereafter, Jolo).
The Sama though, have a very different culture. Aside from the Sama Ubian, who are actually Dayaks from Borneo who adapated to Sama influences, the culture is one of appeasement, and in the case of Jolo, subservience (so much for the ridiculous myth of Bangsamoro peoplehood..). One exception to this "culture of appeasement" are the Balangingi, a Sama group from the island of Balangingi who managed to dominate piracy in the Sulu and Celebes Seas until a genocidal attack by the Spanish Military in 1848 virtually destroyed the group.
Although the Tausug did not settle in Tawi Tawi in any great numbers, they continued their political, economic and cultural domination of Tawi Tawi. The subsequent "culture of appeasement" that developed amongst the Sama has for the most part, rendered Tawi Tawi far more sedate, and offers visitors a much greater sense of security. So much so in fact, that intrepid travellers, including Westerners, continue to visit the small island group without bothering to arrange any special security detail, as would be par for the course in Sulu (Jolo included), Basilan, and even in many parts of Mainland Mindanao.
Such was the case of two European taxidermists who share a deep interest in Birding, a pasttime that most refer to as "Birdwatching." 52 year old Ewold Horn left his home in Den Andel, in Groningen, Holland and met his friend and professional colleague Lorenzo Vinciguerra for a long awaited trip to the Southern Philippines. Vinciguerra, aged 47, owns a profitable taxidermy business in the town of Grub, in Switzerland, and like Horn he enjoys Birding more than he did his chosen trade, stuffing dead animals into likelike poses.
They planned on spotting, and hopefully photographing, several rare Philippine birds in what was to be a 14 day vacation. The highlight of this dream get away was a little known bitd endemic to just two of the 307 islands in the Tawi Tawi island group (and Jolo, now only existing on Mainland Tawi Tawi in a tiny area), the Sulu Hornbill (Anthracoceros Montani). The bird is considered to be on the verge of extinction with an estimated population of 27 adults. Such rarity renders the bird a hot item in the world of Birding. Indeed, the two men had travelled to Tawi Tawi in 1996 in hopes of catching a glimpse only to have their hopes dashed due to the sector being made off limits to foreigners while the AFP, or Armed Forces of the Philippines, undertook a security operation against the ASG.
Arriving in Zamboanga City on Saturday, January 28th, 2012, the two men rendevouzed with a Filipino Birding enthusiast, 32 year old Ivan Sardenas. Sardenas, a residentof Davao City had recently spent considerable time in Tawi Tawi as he sought to establish himself as a guide for nature enthusiasts. It was Sardenas who had put in the legwork in locating the latest sightings of the highly endangered bird and who then pre-arranged security for their expedition. Early Sunday morning, January 29th, the three men boarded a plane in Zamboanga City fora 45 minute flight to Bongao, the capital of Tawi Tawi.
At their hotel Ivan Sadenas called ahead to the municipality of Panglima Sugala, where four of the birds had been sighted in recent months. The Mayor's righthand man recommended that Sardenas employ Municipal Councilor Nestor
Camilo Cabarrubias Sr. as a local guide, and that the Councilor himself would then arrange the expedition's security using police officers from the MPO, or Municipal Police Office. Sardenas didnt have much choice in the matter but dis make the man aware that the expedition wasnt well funded and that the Security Detail would have to take this into account.
Leaving Bongao's Chinese Pier by motorbanca, Philippine speak for "motorized skiff," the group slowly skirted the coast of Mainland Tawi Tawi until reaching Panglima Sugala in the middle of the elongated island's coast. As the men disembarked and began wading through the surf the boat opetator repeated that he would be returning to that same spot to pick them up for their return trip on Wednesday, February 1st, three days hence. Casting off while wishing them luck, the party began carrying their gear through Barangay Bato Bato, the town center, or "Poblacion." As the group atrived at Municipal Hall they were greeted warmly by Councilor Cabarrubias and a lone UNARMED police officer who would be serving as the expedition's paltry "Security Detail."
After a very short meet and greet with town dignitaries the expedition piled into an SUV belonging to the Municipal Government, the expedition made its way to Tubig Malum, or as the Philippine Governmen refers to it, the Rio Hondo River. Parking the vehicle, to be retrieved later by other police officers, the group forded the river and began their tedious hike upcountry to Mount Balik Sampan where the expedition would sped the next three days encamped as the two Europeans and Ivan Sadenas would do their best to photograph their quarry, the Sulu Hornbill.
Wednesday, February 1st arrived and the expedition, having failed to even sight the elusive bird, re-packed their gear and began hiking back down to Tubig Malum where they were to part ways with their "Security Detail." Once at the river , Horn, Vinciguerra, and Sadenas began following it into Barangay Parangan. In that barangay's Sitio Luuk Luuk the three men were suprised, but elated to find the skiff was moored waiting for them, moored just off shore. It didnt take long at all to load the gear aboard and at just after 120PM the boat started its engine and turned back towards Bongao, where the three men hoped to spend a quiet evening back at the hotel, resting in comfort before the next day's flight back to Zamboanga City.
As the boat made its way offshore to skirt all the outriggers of fishermen and seaweed farmers, a pumpboat turned into the lane behind them. Within minutes everybody onboard the skiff was on edge, how much more so when the pumpboat pulled closer and Sadenas noticed the dual barrels of an M16 rifle fitted out with an M203 grenade launcher er. Before long the men in the pumpboat began screaming at the skiff and vigirously motioning with their arms, waving their assault rifles in a menacing fashion. However, it wasnt until a few rounds were fired over their heads that the skiff's operator began dejectedly easing off its throttle.
The pumpboat quickly pulled parallel before two men aboard it hooked the crafts together. Four gunmen quickly came aboard the skiff and pointed their barrels at all four men, motioning for Horn, Vinciguerra, and Sadenas to transfer themselves and their gear to the pumpboat. Forcing the fourth man, the boat opetator, to turn off his idling engine, they then snatched his keys, stole two of his batteries and forced him over the side at gunpoint.
Back aboard the pumpboat, the three captives were forced under a blue plastic tarp covering the foresection almost to.the bow. Quickly throttling up the pumpboat turned around as if to travel back towards Panglima Sugala. Before reaching that town's municipal boundry however, it veered into a "bakawan," or mangrove, where it rendevouzed with a second pumpboat with a markedly different appearance. Once again secured under a blue plastic tarp, the small craft turned out to sea and gunned its engines.
As the second pumpboat entered the waters off of the municipality of Languyan, an offshore islet came into view, pylling parallel to it the boat slowed considerably and finally began idling. Within ten minutes a third, larger pumpboat came at a high rate of speed from the fishing grounds just off of the town. Pulling abreast, the five gunmen aboatd received the three captives and their gear and as was the case twice before, Horn, Vinciguerra, and Sadenas wete forced out of sight under a blue plastic tarp. As this third pumpboat nosed itself out to sea the three captives took stock of their situation; with them under the tarp were three liter containers of fresh water and 55 gallon drums of fuel. With the boat heading out to the sealanes, and seeing a large cachet of fresh water and fuel, it was clear that they erre heading into a Sulu Province, and the ASG (Abu Sayyaf Group) base of operations, Jolo Island.
Ivan Sadenas knew well that it was the Europeans that their captors valued. Coming from a poor family and being a Christian Filipino, his life was worth practically nothing once the five gunmen handed them off to their cohorts on Jolo. Thinking fast, Sadenas told his two companions that he was thinking about making.a run for it by throwing himdelf ovrtboard. Promising the Horn and Vinciguerra that he would alert the authorities, he quietly lifted the edge of the tarp and saw that the five gunmen were busy amongst themselves. Making his way to the opposite side of the tarp he once again quietly lifted an edge and discovered that they were only 1,000 meters off of Mainland Tawi Tawi, smack dab in the middle of fishing grounds as the pumpboat sought cover as it made its way to a busier shipping lane.
Quickly realizing that the fishing grounds represented a great opportunity since witnesses would inhibit a violent reaction from his captors...at least he prayed it would...Sadenas lifted the tarp enough to climb up over the side of tge boat and quickly dove into the azure sea. Diving down as far as he could Ivan Sadenas furiously swam as far as he could until he felt his lungs would burst. Surfacing, desperate for air, he was shocked (and relieved) to find that the boat hadnt even slowed down. He was free, if he could make his way to shore anyway.
Waving his arms as he bobbed in the water, Sadenas quickly caught the attention of an outrigger crewed by three fishermen. Dragging the elated man aboard, the fishermen were able to piece together Sadena's story through gestures and.a few mutually intelligible words. The outrigger made its way to Panglima Sugala where Ivan Sadenas quickly summoned the police. Taking his report the MPO quickly notified the Police Provincial Office, or PPO. Per protocols, PPO-Tawi Tawi immediately notified the AFP's Naval Task Force 62 (TF-62) which handles all seaborne incidents in Tawi Tawi and the waters seperating that province from Borneo.
TF-62 consists of a tender and four patrol boats, along with personnel from MBLT-5 (Marine Battalion Landing Team #5). Despite this capable force, and.cordon it implenented around Mainland Tawi Tawi's eastern and northern coasts, the third pumpboat and the two Europeans, Ewold Horn and Lorenzo Vinciguerra, remained undiscovered. Within two days Governor Sadikul Sahali deployed a 2,000 man search party to comb Mainland Tawi Tawi's 275 square kilometers of jungle, within which Panglima Sugala sits. PPO-Tawi Tawi Director, Superintendent Rodelio Jocson, Chairperson of the Governor's Crisis Management Committee, the requisite entity empaneled to co-ordinate all Governmental responses to the kidnapping, wasted no time in going to the media and accusing Councilman Nestor Camilo Cabarrubias Sr. and his handpicked municipal police officer were pulling the strings on an "inside job."
Superintendent Jocson was naturally asked to elaborate. His bombshell? With a snide conspiratorial grimace, Jocson observed that when the expedition's motorbanca was overtaken by the first pumpboat, neither Councilor Cabarrubias nor the police officer were present, having left the expedition at the river. Of course that is absolutely ridiculous given the fact that the abduction occurred as the men were returning to Bongao. Why would Cabarrubias and the officer be aboard when their "services" had only been secured for Panglima Sugala?
The actual culprit was MNLF-Misuari officer, Kumander Sahi Tali, via his footsoldiers in and around Panglima Sugala. There arent many employment opportunnities in the province and the tourists coming to Panglima Sugala have helped to spawn a healthy cottage industry amongst young men from the immediate area. amany such youth are members of the MNLF-Misuari, a group ostensibly at peace with Manila although it is tenuous, if not an outright fantasy. One of tgese young men, Mustapha Muallam, bent at losing his P250 ($5.50) fee, contacted his immediate superior within the MNLF, who in turn got the go ahead from an underling of Kumander Tali. Tali's own superior, Kumander Habir Malik on Jolo, wanted to turn an easy profit.
The official narrative has the third pumpboat having turned back to Mainland Tawi Tawi after rough seas and a shortage of fuel convince the MNLF guerillas to try again another day. In reality there was no shortage of fuel as the vessel carried several spare drums. Moreover, people on Jolo saw the pumpboat land off of the municipality of Patikul on Jolo. Once on Jolo, Kumander Tali quickly sold both Europeans to Kumamder Yasset Igasan, leader of an ASG faction operating in the hills around Patikul.
Having only found the burned remnants of that first pumpboat in the mamgrove where it had transferred the captives, Governor Sahali finally conceeded that even the Dutch and Swiss Embassies no longer believed that thetwo men remained on Tawi Tawi. Sheepishly demobilizing the Crisis Management.Committee, the Governor them tossed the ball to his counterpart in Sulu, Governor Abdursakur Tan. PPO-Sulu however refused to even consider the possibility.
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.
Kidnap for Ransom for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part X: Leopoldo "Ronnie" Cabaya
Friday night, November 18th, 2011, Leopoldo "Ronnie" Cabaya took a rare evening off from his studies to enjoy a local barangay fiesta near his home in the municipality of Aleosan, in North Cotabato Province. With his days spent as a servant to a well to do family in the adjacent municipality of Midsayap, and most evenings spent studying at Southern Christian College in that same town, Ronnie's chances to relax came far and between. Still, when he finally graduated and found suitable work as an accountant it would all be worth it.
At just past midnite, Saturday, Ronnie found a "habal habal," or motorcycle taxi, to catch a ride back to Midsayap so that he could be ready for work later on that morning. As the motorcycle sped down Aleosan Kidapawan Hiway a another motorcycle passed them at a high rate of speed, carrying a passenger on the back riding tandem, the habal habal driver noticed both men on the other motorcycle were staring at them very intently before they accelerated far ahead of them. Suddenly, upahead, at Crossing Dualing, in Barangay Dualing,the driver saw that the road had been blocked by a pickup truck and two motorcycles parked lengthwise over the breadth of the road. Slowing down, thinking that it was an accident, by the time the driver realised what was really taking place it was too late to flee. Several men already had M16s and AK47s trained on him and his passenger.
As the driver was sitting there, unsure of his next course of action, four of the gunmen hurriedly ran over and grabbed his passenger, Ronnie, off of the rear of the habal habal and frog marched him over to the pickup truck, which then quickly sped off into the dark. As the impromptu checkpoint quickly disappeared the habal habal driver immediately proceeded to the Aleosan MPO, or Municipal Police Office. As he was quickly debriefed by the duty officer he recalled a strange comment made by one of the kidnappers to another, saying they had finally "captured the mayor's son." At once the dduty officer asked the habal habal driver, now the only eyewitness to a kidnapping, to examine a photo and tell him whether or not the man in the photograph looked familiar.
Startled, the driver admitted that that had been his passenger, the young man who had just been kidnapped. The officer immediately phoned the Mayor of Aleosan, Loreto Cabaya, and after apologising for calling at such an impolite hour, asked the Mayor if he knew the whereabouts of his son Jason. Mayor Cabayas answered in the affirmative and informed the duty officer that his son Jason was asleep in front of him, on the "sala" (livingroom) sofa. Perplexed, the duty officer explained about the kidnapping and how the habal habal driver had identified the victim as Jason. Moreover, the officer said, one of the kidnappers had told one of his accomplices that they had just snared the Mayor's son.
Almost immediately the Mayor surmised what had happened but told the officer to hold on for a few moments as he checked on some very important information. Calling a relative he discovered that his nephew Leopoldo "Ronnie" Cabayas had failed to return home from a barangay fiesta. Immediately informing the duty officer that the victim wasn't his son, but rather his nephew, the MPO immediately implemented checkpoints along major roads but it was too late. The pickup truck was last seen driving into Aleosan's Barangay Dungguan, was soon discovered next to a creek, having been set on fire as the gunmen headed into Liguasan Marsh by boat.
Apparently thr victim of mistaken identity, Ronnie's destitute parents have already been contacted by the kidnappers" negotiator who opened with the usual ridiculous gambit of P20 Million ($450,000). Ronnie doesn't work as a servant as a hobby. He does so because he is destitute. Hopefully his captors will not kill him when they discover this.
At just past midnite, Saturday, Ronnie found a "habal habal," or motorcycle taxi, to catch a ride back to Midsayap so that he could be ready for work later on that morning. As the motorcycle sped down Aleosan Kidapawan Hiway a another motorcycle passed them at a high rate of speed, carrying a passenger on the back riding tandem, the habal habal driver noticed both men on the other motorcycle were staring at them very intently before they accelerated far ahead of them. Suddenly, upahead, at Crossing Dualing, in Barangay Dualing,the driver saw that the road had been blocked by a pickup truck and two motorcycles parked lengthwise over the breadth of the road. Slowing down, thinking that it was an accident, by the time the driver realised what was really taking place it was too late to flee. Several men already had M16s and AK47s trained on him and his passenger.
As the driver was sitting there, unsure of his next course of action, four of the gunmen hurriedly ran over and grabbed his passenger, Ronnie, off of the rear of the habal habal and frog marched him over to the pickup truck, which then quickly sped off into the dark. As the impromptu checkpoint quickly disappeared the habal habal driver immediately proceeded to the Aleosan MPO, or Municipal Police Office. As he was quickly debriefed by the duty officer he recalled a strange comment made by one of the kidnappers to another, saying they had finally "captured the mayor's son." At once the dduty officer asked the habal habal driver, now the only eyewitness to a kidnapping, to examine a photo and tell him whether or not the man in the photograph looked familiar.
Startled, the driver admitted that that had been his passenger, the young man who had just been kidnapped. The officer immediately phoned the Mayor of Aleosan, Loreto Cabaya, and after apologising for calling at such an impolite hour, asked the Mayor if he knew the whereabouts of his son Jason. Mayor Cabayas answered in the affirmative and informed the duty officer that his son Jason was asleep in front of him, on the "sala" (livingroom) sofa. Perplexed, the duty officer explained about the kidnapping and how the habal habal driver had identified the victim as Jason. Moreover, the officer said, one of the kidnappers had told one of his accomplices that they had just snared the Mayor's son.
Almost immediately the Mayor surmised what had happened but told the officer to hold on for a few moments as he checked on some very important information. Calling a relative he discovered that his nephew Leopoldo "Ronnie" Cabayas had failed to return home from a barangay fiesta. Immediately informing the duty officer that the victim wasn't his son, but rather his nephew, the MPO immediately implemented checkpoints along major roads but it was too late. The pickup truck was last seen driving into Aleosan's Barangay Dungguan, was soon discovered next to a creek, having been set on fire as the gunmen headed into Liguasan Marsh by boat.
Apparently thr victim of mistaken identity, Ronnie's destitute parents have already been contacted by the kidnappers" negotiator who opened with the usual ridiculous gambit of P20 Million ($450,000). Ronnie doesn't work as a servant as a hobby. He does so because he is destitute. Hopefully his captors will not kill him when they discover this.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Kidnap for Ransom for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part VIII: Three South Koreans and Three Filipinos in Lanao
Amongst expatriates South Koreans most definitely form the largest demographic in the Philippines. Given their geographic proximity on the Pacific Rim and their much higher standard of living than that of the Philippines, the Philippines naturally becomes a preferred destination for ambitious and somewhat adventurous Korean entrepeneurs. Officialy speaking of course the largest demographic is the Americans. The discrepancy hinges upon virtually all American visitors remaining on the right side of the Bureau of Immigration and its visa system. South Koreans on the other hand often don't bother with such niceties. Coming here to find their fortune, egged on by those that have come before, just about every major Philippine city has its large Korean Community.
With such a large and upwardly mobile population it only serves that South Koreans would be finding themselves victimised by predatory organisations, both KFR, or, Kidnap for Ransom, as well as extortion outfits dealing in protection rackets involving the BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) to BI (Burea of Immigration).
Therefore it should come as no suprise that South Koreans end up being kidnapped from time to time. The latest incident revolves around three South Koreans:
1) Kim Nam Doo, age 48
2) Woo Seok Bung, age 60
3) Choi In Soo, age 53
who are reputed to be "Treasure Hunters" although the local media- what little attention has been offered- refer to the three as "Mining Inspectors." Treasure Hunters are the gullible souls who fall prey to stories about primitive tribesmen discovering hordes of precious metal or alternatively, crates of Bearer Bonds, et cetera, OR, fleeing Japanese soldiers secreting war booty that has somehow come to light. The tribesmen, being primitive, have no realisation of the value of the find and are, for example, willing to part with something worth 20 Million Pesos for a mere 1 Million Pesos. I suppose that in the days before the internet existed one could understand how people could repeatedly keep getting into such messes but in this day and age, with the literally hundreds of reports on such cases that at the very best end with a simple strong armed robbery, it defies basic logic and common sense and yet, as we see, it never stops.
The three men checked into the Miami Inn Hotel in Cagayan del Oro City in Misamis Oriental Province on October 20th, 2011 and soon met with three local "partners" whom they had met online:
1) Junie Ongie, of El Salvador, a municipality on that same province, Misamis Oriental
2) Nestor Modejar, of Barobo, in Surigao del Sur Province
and the third man, a reputed "mining engineer" from the municipality of Parang, in Maguindanao Province.
The six men then contracted the services of a guide from the Lake Lanao region and began a ten day search for hidden fortunes. Their contact, a Maranaw (Maranao) Tribesmen, arrived with two other Maranaw to pick the six men up at the hotel. Telling the group that they would be going to inspect a site in the municipalities of Lala and Maranding, in the neighboring province of Lanao del Sur, they were instead led to the southern shores of Lake Lanao, which just happens to be equivalent to wearing a t-shirt that says "Kidnap Me NOW!!!" When the three Koreans failed to return to their hotel by October 31st, concerned staff reported the men as missing. After that it didn't take long to piece together what had transpired. On November 5th the kidnappers contacted family members of the Koreans using their captives' cellphones. Because the primary cellphone used isn't a prepaid, like 90% of Philippine cellphones, the Korean Government was able to ascertain the general location of the kidnappers, if not the captives themselves. The calls were generated from that same southshore location on Lake Lanao. Opening negotiations with the kidnappers' negotiator, none other than the former Mayor of the municipality of Salvador, Jhonny [sic] Tawan-Tawan. Not to be confused with the aforementioned municipality of "El Salvador," this particular town is located on the borders of Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte Provinces.
ridiculous sum of P50 Million ($1 Million), cellphone extrapolation revealed that Tawan-Tawan was working for a KFR organisation led by a sub- commander of the 101 Base Command, BIAF, or Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces- as the armed wing of the MILF is known, "Kumander Pogi" (no word as of yet as to whether or not the "Kumamder" will accept a ransom of "Pogi Points" in lieu of cash).
Co-incidentally, the last foreigner kidnapped in that particular area, an American, Sam Milton Taylor, had also been after treasure. His ordeal began on January 11th, 2011 and ended on April 13th, after a hefty ransom changed hands.
Moreover, the last known Korean kidnapping case ALSO involved a would be treasure hunter. 55 year old Yung Oh had arrived in Zamboanga City's Barangay Lanzones in February of 2010 and promptly applied for permits to excavate a large tract of private property. Mindanao being what it is, this led to Abu Sayyaf sub-Kumander Saddam Parad, younger brother of the late Abu Sayyaf factional leader Kumander Albader Parad, casing Oh. Having arrived in the barangay with six Abu Sayyaf guerillas, local villagers alerted the CPO, or City Police Office, which in turn forced a reluctant Mr.Oh to finally leave Mindanao in May of that year, to avoid becoming yet another statistic.
In 2002, another Korean treasure hunter, Yoon Jae Keun DID become a statistic. On February 6th of that year he and Filipino hotel owner, Carlos Belonio, began searching in the municipality of Maitum's Barangay Malisbong, in Sarangani Province, though they weren't looking for precious metal. Like the murdered victim in my recent entry, "Kidnapping for Ransom in the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part VIII," Dominador Mendoza Berdin, they were trying to grave rob antiquities out of caves.
The now defunct insurgent group Abu Sofia, under its leader its now deceased founder, Kumander Bedis "Bedz" Binago, grabbed the two, threw them into a motor banca, the local term for a motorised skiff and took them into captivity in the municipality of Palembang in the adjacent province of Sultan Kudarat, the Abu Sofia enclave. They were then sold to the BIAF's 109 Base Command, a faction led by Kumander Bedz' brother, sub-Kumander Abdulrahman "Bedz" Binago. While Carlos Belonio was released early on without a ransom (in order to help arrange the ransom of Mr.Yoon), Mr.Yoon ended up being released in July of that year after more than five months in captivity. Interestingly he was privy to much of the ransom negotiations. When the 109 Base Command was ready to release him in exchange for a very modest ransom the Mayor of Palembang, Labualas Mamansual, ended up telling the kidnappers not to settle for less than $300,000, the equivalent of P15 Million. This is why noone should ever rely on the authorities if and when a loved one is kidnapped.
With such a large and upwardly mobile population it only serves that South Koreans would be finding themselves victimised by predatory organisations, both KFR, or, Kidnap for Ransom, as well as extortion outfits dealing in protection rackets involving the BIR (Bureau of Internal Revenue) to BI (Burea of Immigration).
Therefore it should come as no suprise that South Koreans end up being kidnapped from time to time. The latest incident revolves around three South Koreans:
1) Kim Nam Doo, age 48
2) Woo Seok Bung, age 60
3) Choi In Soo, age 53
who are reputed to be "Treasure Hunters" although the local media- what little attention has been offered- refer to the three as "Mining Inspectors." Treasure Hunters are the gullible souls who fall prey to stories about primitive tribesmen discovering hordes of precious metal or alternatively, crates of Bearer Bonds, et cetera, OR, fleeing Japanese soldiers secreting war booty that has somehow come to light. The tribesmen, being primitive, have no realisation of the value of the find and are, for example, willing to part with something worth 20 Million Pesos for a mere 1 Million Pesos. I suppose that in the days before the internet existed one could understand how people could repeatedly keep getting into such messes but in this day and age, with the literally hundreds of reports on such cases that at the very best end with a simple strong armed robbery, it defies basic logic and common sense and yet, as we see, it never stops.
The three men checked into the Miami Inn Hotel in Cagayan del Oro City in Misamis Oriental Province on October 20th, 2011 and soon met with three local "partners" whom they had met online:
1) Junie Ongie, of El Salvador, a municipality on that same province, Misamis Oriental
2) Nestor Modejar, of Barobo, in Surigao del Sur Province
and the third man, a reputed "mining engineer" from the municipality of Parang, in Maguindanao Province.
The six men then contracted the services of a guide from the Lake Lanao region and began a ten day search for hidden fortunes. Their contact, a Maranaw (Maranao) Tribesmen, arrived with two other Maranaw to pick the six men up at the hotel. Telling the group that they would be going to inspect a site in the municipalities of Lala and Maranding, in the neighboring province of Lanao del Sur, they were instead led to the southern shores of Lake Lanao, which just happens to be equivalent to wearing a t-shirt that says "Kidnap Me NOW!!!" When the three Koreans failed to return to their hotel by October 31st, concerned staff reported the men as missing. After that it didn't take long to piece together what had transpired. On November 5th the kidnappers contacted family members of the Koreans using their captives' cellphones. Because the primary cellphone used isn't a prepaid, like 90% of Philippine cellphones, the Korean Government was able to ascertain the general location of the kidnappers, if not the captives themselves. The calls were generated from that same southshore location on Lake Lanao. Opening negotiations with the kidnappers' negotiator, none other than the former Mayor of the municipality of Salvador, Jhonny [sic] Tawan-Tawan. Not to be confused with the aforementioned municipality of "El Salvador," this particular town is located on the borders of Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte Provinces.
ridiculous sum of P50 Million ($1 Million), cellphone extrapolation revealed that Tawan-Tawan was working for a KFR organisation led by a sub- commander of the 101 Base Command, BIAF, or Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces- as the armed wing of the MILF is known, "Kumander Pogi" (no word as of yet as to whether or not the "Kumamder" will accept a ransom of "Pogi Points" in lieu of cash).
Co-incidentally, the last foreigner kidnapped in that particular area, an American, Sam Milton Taylor, had also been after treasure. His ordeal began on January 11th, 2011 and ended on April 13th, after a hefty ransom changed hands.
Moreover, the last known Korean kidnapping case ALSO involved a would be treasure hunter. 55 year old Yung Oh had arrived in Zamboanga City's Barangay Lanzones in February of 2010 and promptly applied for permits to excavate a large tract of private property. Mindanao being what it is, this led to Abu Sayyaf sub-Kumander Saddam Parad, younger brother of the late Abu Sayyaf factional leader Kumander Albader Parad, casing Oh. Having arrived in the barangay with six Abu Sayyaf guerillas, local villagers alerted the CPO, or City Police Office, which in turn forced a reluctant Mr.Oh to finally leave Mindanao in May of that year, to avoid becoming yet another statistic.
In 2002, another Korean treasure hunter, Yoon Jae Keun DID become a statistic. On February 6th of that year he and Filipino hotel owner, Carlos Belonio, began searching in the municipality of Maitum's Barangay Malisbong, in Sarangani Province, though they weren't looking for precious metal. Like the murdered victim in my recent entry, "Kidnapping for Ransom in the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part VIII," Dominador Mendoza Berdin, they were trying to grave rob antiquities out of caves.
The now defunct insurgent group Abu Sofia, under its leader its now deceased founder, Kumander Bedis "Bedz" Binago, grabbed the two, threw them into a motor banca, the local term for a motorised skiff and took them into captivity in the municipality of Palembang in the adjacent province of Sultan Kudarat, the Abu Sofia enclave. They were then sold to the BIAF's 109 Base Command, a faction led by Kumander Bedz' brother, sub-Kumander Abdulrahman "Bedz" Binago. While Carlos Belonio was released early on without a ransom (in order to help arrange the ransom of Mr.Yoon), Mr.Yoon ended up being released in July of that year after more than five months in captivity. Interestingly he was privy to much of the ransom negotiations. When the 109 Base Command was ready to release him in exchange for a very modest ransom the Mayor of Palembang, Labualas Mamansual, ended up telling the kidnappers not to settle for less than $300,000, the equivalent of P15 Million. This is why noone should ever rely on the authorities if and when a loved one is kidnapped.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Kidnapping for Ransom for the Fourth Quarter of 2011, Part X: Dominador Mendoza Berdin, a Case of Poetic Justice
Most often KFR, or Kidnap for Ransom captives are truly innocent victims. Through no real fault of their own- above and beyond the lack of precaution taken by most- who simply fall prey to the various organised groups doing business on Mindanao. The case of Dominador Mendoza Berdin though is an exception to the rule and though it ended badly for Mr.Berdin, it was surely a case of one predator being outdone by another, more ambitious predator.
Described alternatively as an "Antiques Trader" and a "Gold Trader," Berdin was actually an Antiquities Trader of the worst sort. Robbing graves as part of an organised ring tied into the National Museum of the Philippines, Berdin sought to profit by robbing Mindanowans of their patrimony and was nabbed in 2008 while robbing graves on the southern coast of the island.
The 1991 to 2005 dig at Ayub Cave, popularly known as "Pinol Cave," in the municipality of Maitum in Sarangani Province has produced some of the earliest known physical evidence of any settlement on Mindanao. While Negritos' existence can be measured in the tens of thousands of years, they have left no known archaeological record. Therefore the culture that utilised Ayub Cave is NOT the oldest to have ever existed on Mindanao, but the artifacts recovered are still priceless because they are among the oldest physical evidence of habitation on the island. Moreover, they offer us a glimpse of what life on this island might have been like two thousand years ago.
Discovered in 1990 by Sarangani Tribesmen searching for swallows' nests for sale to Chinese traders who use the nests as a main ingredient in a very expencive soup, the cave sits on land owned by Datu Hadji Ayub Mindog. To Ayub's credit, as soon as the nest gatherers informed him of their discovery he informed then- Mayor George Yabes. To Yabes' credit, he immediately sought advice from the National Museum in Manila. The museum in turn dispatched its Archaeological Curator, Doctor Eusebio Dizon Ph.D., Chairman of the University of the Philippines' Archaeological Studies Program who then led most of the work at Ayub and in the mid-1990s co-authored, "Faces of Maitum," with Museum Researcher and University of the Philippines colleague Professor Rey Santiago. The book offers an in depth account of the artifacts, mostly Secondary Burial Jars. A common feature of many cultures involves re-interring the bones of deceased ancestors into very small containers which are then usually relocated to a second burial site.
The caves on Mindanao's southern coast were used as such places, caves often representing an entryway into the bowels of the earth and thereby an entryway into the spiritual realm. The pots are more notable for having had depictions of the person whose bones rested within. Owing to the age of the vessels most were in shards and had to be re-assembled, but are still very valuable and in the hands of a trained academic can be re-assembled very nicely.
In 2002 Mayor Yabes began putting together a package to promote Maitum's unique position as the curator of Mindanao's oldest artifacts. In addition to a small but well assembled museum that was installed in the town's municipal hall compound, Mayor Yabes created a ceramics and pottery programme for his townspeople so that they could manufacture souveneirs based upon the Maitum Jars, as they are now known. Asking townspeople to find suitable sources of clay, a group of teenagers discovered an even earlier burial cave in Sitio Linao, in the town's Barangay Kiambing. Unfortunately, the seven chambered cave has been raped by grave robbers to the point where only disparate shards remained. The cave is extremely important because many of these shards have been dated by Dizon to 1000 BCE (BC), making them the oldest artifacts by far, at 3,000 years old. More importantly, in Dizon's estimation they show a linkage to Bornean Culture, with a high similarity to artifacts recovered at Sabah's Bukit Tengkorak, indicating perhaps a regional culture or even regional maritime trade far earlier than even Butuan's deep sea ships, the earliest of which dates to 245 CE (AD).
In August of 2008 Dominador Mendoza Berdin stepped off of a "motor banca," Filipino speak for a motorised skiff in Maitum's Barangay Kawa and began loading seven nylon rice sacks and fifteen large plastic bags into an idling trikdiad, or motorised tricycle. As he did so a villager phoned Maitum's MPO, or Municipal Police Office and reported a possible grave robbing, Kawa after all being the barangay in which Ayub Cave sits. Responding police, led by Senior Officer Second Grade (SPO2) Reginald Bagares Delfin confronted Mr.Berdin over the contents of his sacks and bags and were glibly told not to worry about them because they merely contained , "Dekorayson sa Bahay" (knick knacks), purchased in Sultan Kudarat Province's municipality of Palimbang. Pressed further Bernadin finally produced a permit for transport of cultural artifacts issued by the National Museum. However, the permit had just expired, only covered transport from General Santos City to Manila, and most importantly, had been issued to Jimmy Tan, the owner of JM Antiques, located in Manila's Barangay Santa Cruz, at 115 CM Recto Avenue. Berdin explained that he was running late due to the haphazard flight and ferry schedules between Philippine islands, and that he hadn't thought it necessary to include travel information outside of General Santos City since permits only ever become an issue in boarding airplanes. As for the permit having been issued to Jimmy Tan, he was Mr.Tan's representative and this could all be verified very easily.
SPO2 Delfin was about to release Berdin and his bags when, in passing conversation, he asked Berdin who he had bought the items from. Berdin then stumbled before insisting that the "owner" was extra-cautious and insisted on anonymity. SPO2 Delfin now became very suspicious and insisted on speaking with the seller. Berdin dug in his heels and earned himself a trip to the MPO where he had his bags confiscated for the duration of an unofficial investigation by MPO Director, Senior Inspector Lurobe Rojo Sr. Director Rojo sought the advice of the Mayor, Elsie Lucille Rudes Perett, who had her assistant Elizabeth "Beth" Ramos Palma Gil personally phone the National Museum to verify the permit's authenticity. Museum Director Corazon Alvina was out of town and so she ended up talking to the gentleman who had issued the permit, Angel Cuevas, a museum curator in the Cultural Properties Division.
Bautista had never counted on being caught and panicked. To make a long story short he promised Ms.Ramos that he would never issue another permit and begged her not to release the artifacts to Mr.Berdin. Meanwhile, Berdin had made his way back to Manila and obtained a second permit from the museum (# 00003845), courtesy of another ring member, Cecilio G.Salcedo, then the Acting Director in Ms.Alvina's place. Although good for the dates August 17th to September 17th, it had been issued on August 26th. Also troubling, this permit now had Berdin as the owner of JM Antiques and Mr.Tan merely listed as Berdin's representative. Presenting this new permit to the Maitum MPO Berdin glibly demanded the return of "his posesions." Again, much to his credit, MPO Director Rojo phoned Mayor Perett and explained the latest developments in the case. Berdin once again had to endure an unofficial investigation into the permit.
Mayor Perett was now told by another Acting Director that Mr.Salcedo had left the Philippines and was now in the Netherlands. The unidentified Acting Director in Salcedo's place informed Mayor Perett that if she insisted on speaking with Director Alvina, she would be resuming her duties on September 1st. Calling promptly on the 1st Mayor Perett finally got to speak with Director Alvina who hadn't a clue as to what had transpired in her absence. Mayor Perett, now very angry, informed Alvina that the artifacts were being seized and that she would soon be hearing from higher placed authorities.
On September 6th Sarangani Governor Miguel "Migs" Dominguez got involved in the brewing scandal and ordered the PPO, or Provincial Police Office, to take possesion of the artifacts in light of recent Military intelligence that had the BIAF, or Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces- as the MILF's military wing as known- planning to launch an assault on the municipal compound in Maitum to seize Berdin's artifacts. The BIAF's 107 Base Command was then involved in the 2008 War and had already raided two towns nearby so that the threat was taken very seriously.
On September 10th Governor Dominguez personally phoned Director Alvina to push her to resolve the permits. His call merely resulted in Alvina agreeing to an in house investigation at the museum which resulted in her acknowledging culpability BUT exonerating her staff apart from a bit of negligence which she vowed would not happen again...
On Thursday, November 10th, 2011, Dominador Mendoza Berdin once again left Manila to tie up his latest deal involving a reputed hoard of antiquities seized by the BIAF 105th Base Command earlier this year. Meeting his local representative, Meriam Acob at the Davao City Airport. En route to Cotabato City their contact, a man known only epononymously as "Mhodz" informed them that the sellers felt Cotabato City was too dangerous now that the Military was actively manning checkpoints on all entrances and exits to the city. Instead they would meet at the Hillside Resort in the municipality of Datu Odin Sinsuat, in Maguindanao Province. The resort, in Barangay Awang sat less than a kilometer from the Military's 6ID (Infantry Division) Headquarters, and so Berdin felt nothing was amiss.
Had Dominador Berdin did his homework he would have known that the resort had been the site of a bloody attack in mid-April of 2010. On April 14th, 2010, resort owner Hadji Montasir M.Sabal, then a candidate for Mayor of Talitay, a municipality in that same province of Maguindanao, was meeting with nearly sixty members of his campaign, including his brother who was running as his Vice Mayor. As dozens swam in the resort pool two young men casually approached and tossed two fragmentation grenades towards the table where the Sabal brothers were sitting. Although both brothers emerged unscathed and went on to win the 2010 Election a month later, two men died and fourteen were wounded, including two who were rendered quadrapalegics. When even the owner isn't safe, a kilometer from the region's largest military base, perhaps one should re-think their travel plans- just a thought. Of course people like Berdin only think in terms of profit (see my 2010 entry on Election Related Violence for background on the grenade attack).
Pulling into the resort carpark Berdin and Ms.Acob were met by Mohdz who, suprisingly, was with a group of unfriendly looking men. As they parked their SUV Mohdz came over and told them that the seller was waiting in his room inside the resort but would only allow Berdin inside, Ms.Acob would be forced to wait outside. Shrugging his shoulders Mr.Berdin grabbed his bag full of cash and followed Mhodz inside to meet the seller. Ms.Acob became nervous when eight of the men who had been with Mhodz when they drove up, followed behind Berdin and Mhodz.
Less than 5 minutes later one of the eight men emerged looking unhappy...carrying Berdin's bag, and spoke in quiet tones to a man who had been waiting outside. The man with the bag then quickly re-entered the resort and emerged with seven men and a shaken Mr.Berdin whom they began shoving towards a light green Isuzu Elf truck parked in a corner. At that point a resort security guard recognised something was amiss and began moving towards the group at which point two of the eight men with Berdin peeled off from the others and drew down with 45 caliber pistols on the guard. As they kep the guard at bay the Elf quickly drove carrying six men and Mr.Berdin. In the commotion Mhodz and whomever else had been in the room disappeared and when the two remaining gunmen realised that they had been left alone, they too left in a hurry.
Meanwhile, Ms. Acob had used her cellphone to call the authorities with the Datu Odin Sinsuat MPO responding. It wasn't long before police officers were able to collar the two gunmen who had been left behind as the luckless pair stupidly began walking down the road leading to Isulan-Cotabato National Hiway. The two:
1) Ryan Usman Diwang
2) Norodin Malik Andil
both carried their 45s with them but like many in their position, they had merely been hired as day labour by a very cohesive, virtually impregnable KFR cell. Therefore they offered nothing of value. Charged with Kidnapping and Robbery both are currently in the Cotabato City Jail.
The Elf carrying the six kidnappers and Mr.Berdin drove to Barangay Capiton's Sitio Lower Capiton in that same municipality where the truck, later proven to be stolen, was burned. The group then bordered two waiting motor bancas and began making their way through the myriad of creeks into Liguasan Marsh, a no man's land controlled by the BIAF. In what has to be the most disgustingly adacious factoid to come out of this whole sordid tale, Cotabato City's Vice Mayor Muslimin Sema, concurrently the Chairman of the MNLF-EC15 (Executive Committee of 15), and the man who controls virtually all KFRs in Central Mindanao informed the police that he was. "Mobilising" his guerillas to rescue Berdin. Should have been simple since he had him kidnapped.
On Friday, November 11th, at 1PM, children swimming in Kinagatan Creek in Cotabato City's Barangay Kalanganan 2 discovered Berdin's corpse, having been shot in the leg and abdomen. The police ridiculously theorise that the kidnappers were scared of being discovered as the authorities launched a major manhunt and so they simply executed him. Even if anyone executed someone with a shot to the abdomen it makes no sense. Although Kinagatan Creek does lead into the Tamontaka River, which in turn leads directly into the most populated sectors in Cotabato City and heavy military scrutiny, it ALSO leads directly into Liguasan Marsh which is impenetrable to authorities short of a major armed incursion. Although we will probably know just ehy he was killed, it wasn't out of fear of interdiction.
Described alternatively as an "Antiques Trader" and a "Gold Trader," Berdin was actually an Antiquities Trader of the worst sort. Robbing graves as part of an organised ring tied into the National Museum of the Philippines, Berdin sought to profit by robbing Mindanowans of their patrimony and was nabbed in 2008 while robbing graves on the southern coast of the island.
The 1991 to 2005 dig at Ayub Cave, popularly known as "Pinol Cave," in the municipality of Maitum in Sarangani Province has produced some of the earliest known physical evidence of any settlement on Mindanao. While Negritos' existence can be measured in the tens of thousands of years, they have left no known archaeological record. Therefore the culture that utilised Ayub Cave is NOT the oldest to have ever existed on Mindanao, but the artifacts recovered are still priceless because they are among the oldest physical evidence of habitation on the island. Moreover, they offer us a glimpse of what life on this island might have been like two thousand years ago.
Discovered in 1990 by Sarangani Tribesmen searching for swallows' nests for sale to Chinese traders who use the nests as a main ingredient in a very expencive soup, the cave sits on land owned by Datu Hadji Ayub Mindog. To Ayub's credit, as soon as the nest gatherers informed him of their discovery he informed then- Mayor George Yabes. To Yabes' credit, he immediately sought advice from the National Museum in Manila. The museum in turn dispatched its Archaeological Curator, Doctor Eusebio Dizon Ph.D., Chairman of the University of the Philippines' Archaeological Studies Program who then led most of the work at Ayub and in the mid-1990s co-authored, "Faces of Maitum," with Museum Researcher and University of the Philippines colleague Professor Rey Santiago. The book offers an in depth account of the artifacts, mostly Secondary Burial Jars. A common feature of many cultures involves re-interring the bones of deceased ancestors into very small containers which are then usually relocated to a second burial site.
The caves on Mindanao's southern coast were used as such places, caves often representing an entryway into the bowels of the earth and thereby an entryway into the spiritual realm. The pots are more notable for having had depictions of the person whose bones rested within. Owing to the age of the vessels most were in shards and had to be re-assembled, but are still very valuable and in the hands of a trained academic can be re-assembled very nicely.
In 2002 Mayor Yabes began putting together a package to promote Maitum's unique position as the curator of Mindanao's oldest artifacts. In addition to a small but well assembled museum that was installed in the town's municipal hall compound, Mayor Yabes created a ceramics and pottery programme for his townspeople so that they could manufacture souveneirs based upon the Maitum Jars, as they are now known. Asking townspeople to find suitable sources of clay, a group of teenagers discovered an even earlier burial cave in Sitio Linao, in the town's Barangay Kiambing. Unfortunately, the seven chambered cave has been raped by grave robbers to the point where only disparate shards remained. The cave is extremely important because many of these shards have been dated by Dizon to 1000 BCE (BC), making them the oldest artifacts by far, at 3,000 years old. More importantly, in Dizon's estimation they show a linkage to Bornean Culture, with a high similarity to artifacts recovered at Sabah's Bukit Tengkorak, indicating perhaps a regional culture or even regional maritime trade far earlier than even Butuan's deep sea ships, the earliest of which dates to 245 CE (AD).
In August of 2008 Dominador Mendoza Berdin stepped off of a "motor banca," Filipino speak for a motorised skiff in Maitum's Barangay Kawa and began loading seven nylon rice sacks and fifteen large plastic bags into an idling trikdiad, or motorised tricycle. As he did so a villager phoned Maitum's MPO, or Municipal Police Office and reported a possible grave robbing, Kawa after all being the barangay in which Ayub Cave sits. Responding police, led by Senior Officer Second Grade (SPO2) Reginald Bagares Delfin confronted Mr.Berdin over the contents of his sacks and bags and were glibly told not to worry about them because they merely contained , "Dekorayson sa Bahay" (knick knacks), purchased in Sultan Kudarat Province's municipality of Palimbang. Pressed further Bernadin finally produced a permit for transport of cultural artifacts issued by the National Museum. However, the permit had just expired, only covered transport from General Santos City to Manila, and most importantly, had been issued to Jimmy Tan, the owner of JM Antiques, located in Manila's Barangay Santa Cruz, at 115 CM Recto Avenue. Berdin explained that he was running late due to the haphazard flight and ferry schedules between Philippine islands, and that he hadn't thought it necessary to include travel information outside of General Santos City since permits only ever become an issue in boarding airplanes. As for the permit having been issued to Jimmy Tan, he was Mr.Tan's representative and this could all be verified very easily.
SPO2 Delfin was about to release Berdin and his bags when, in passing conversation, he asked Berdin who he had bought the items from. Berdin then stumbled before insisting that the "owner" was extra-cautious and insisted on anonymity. SPO2 Delfin now became very suspicious and insisted on speaking with the seller. Berdin dug in his heels and earned himself a trip to the MPO where he had his bags confiscated for the duration of an unofficial investigation by MPO Director, Senior Inspector Lurobe Rojo Sr. Director Rojo sought the advice of the Mayor, Elsie Lucille Rudes Perett, who had her assistant Elizabeth "Beth" Ramos Palma Gil personally phone the National Museum to verify the permit's authenticity. Museum Director Corazon Alvina was out of town and so she ended up talking to the gentleman who had issued the permit, Angel Cuevas, a museum curator in the Cultural Properties Division.
Bautista had never counted on being caught and panicked. To make a long story short he promised Ms.Ramos that he would never issue another permit and begged her not to release the artifacts to Mr.Berdin. Meanwhile, Berdin had made his way back to Manila and obtained a second permit from the museum (# 00003845), courtesy of another ring member, Cecilio G.Salcedo, then the Acting Director in Ms.Alvina's place. Although good for the dates August 17th to September 17th, it had been issued on August 26th. Also troubling, this permit now had Berdin as the owner of JM Antiques and Mr.Tan merely listed as Berdin's representative. Presenting this new permit to the Maitum MPO Berdin glibly demanded the return of "his posesions." Again, much to his credit, MPO Director Rojo phoned Mayor Perett and explained the latest developments in the case. Berdin once again had to endure an unofficial investigation into the permit.
Mayor Perett was now told by another Acting Director that Mr.Salcedo had left the Philippines and was now in the Netherlands. The unidentified Acting Director in Salcedo's place informed Mayor Perett that if she insisted on speaking with Director Alvina, she would be resuming her duties on September 1st. Calling promptly on the 1st Mayor Perett finally got to speak with Director Alvina who hadn't a clue as to what had transpired in her absence. Mayor Perett, now very angry, informed Alvina that the artifacts were being seized and that she would soon be hearing from higher placed authorities.
On September 6th Sarangani Governor Miguel "Migs" Dominguez got involved in the brewing scandal and ordered the PPO, or Provincial Police Office, to take possesion of the artifacts in light of recent Military intelligence that had the BIAF, or Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces- as the MILF's military wing as known- planning to launch an assault on the municipal compound in Maitum to seize Berdin's artifacts. The BIAF's 107 Base Command was then involved in the 2008 War and had already raided two towns nearby so that the threat was taken very seriously.
On September 10th Governor Dominguez personally phoned Director Alvina to push her to resolve the permits. His call merely resulted in Alvina agreeing to an in house investigation at the museum which resulted in her acknowledging culpability BUT exonerating her staff apart from a bit of negligence which she vowed would not happen again...
On Thursday, November 10th, 2011, Dominador Mendoza Berdin once again left Manila to tie up his latest deal involving a reputed hoard of antiquities seized by the BIAF 105th Base Command earlier this year. Meeting his local representative, Meriam Acob at the Davao City Airport. En route to Cotabato City their contact, a man known only epononymously as "Mhodz" informed them that the sellers felt Cotabato City was too dangerous now that the Military was actively manning checkpoints on all entrances and exits to the city. Instead they would meet at the Hillside Resort in the municipality of Datu Odin Sinsuat, in Maguindanao Province. The resort, in Barangay Awang sat less than a kilometer from the Military's 6ID (Infantry Division) Headquarters, and so Berdin felt nothing was amiss.
Had Dominador Berdin did his homework he would have known that the resort had been the site of a bloody attack in mid-April of 2010. On April 14th, 2010, resort owner Hadji Montasir M.Sabal, then a candidate for Mayor of Talitay, a municipality in that same province of Maguindanao, was meeting with nearly sixty members of his campaign, including his brother who was running as his Vice Mayor. As dozens swam in the resort pool two young men casually approached and tossed two fragmentation grenades towards the table where the Sabal brothers were sitting. Although both brothers emerged unscathed and went on to win the 2010 Election a month later, two men died and fourteen were wounded, including two who were rendered quadrapalegics. When even the owner isn't safe, a kilometer from the region's largest military base, perhaps one should re-think their travel plans- just a thought. Of course people like Berdin only think in terms of profit (see my 2010 entry on Election Related Violence for background on the grenade attack).
Pulling into the resort carpark Berdin and Ms.Acob were met by Mohdz who, suprisingly, was with a group of unfriendly looking men. As they parked their SUV Mohdz came over and told them that the seller was waiting in his room inside the resort but would only allow Berdin inside, Ms.Acob would be forced to wait outside. Shrugging his shoulders Mr.Berdin grabbed his bag full of cash and followed Mhodz inside to meet the seller. Ms.Acob became nervous when eight of the men who had been with Mhodz when they drove up, followed behind Berdin and Mhodz.
Less than 5 minutes later one of the eight men emerged looking unhappy...carrying Berdin's bag, and spoke in quiet tones to a man who had been waiting outside. The man with the bag then quickly re-entered the resort and emerged with seven men and a shaken Mr.Berdin whom they began shoving towards a light green Isuzu Elf truck parked in a corner. At that point a resort security guard recognised something was amiss and began moving towards the group at which point two of the eight men with Berdin peeled off from the others and drew down with 45 caliber pistols on the guard. As they kep the guard at bay the Elf quickly drove carrying six men and Mr.Berdin. In the commotion Mhodz and whomever else had been in the room disappeared and when the two remaining gunmen realised that they had been left alone, they too left in a hurry.
Meanwhile, Ms. Acob had used her cellphone to call the authorities with the Datu Odin Sinsuat MPO responding. It wasn't long before police officers were able to collar the two gunmen who had been left behind as the luckless pair stupidly began walking down the road leading to Isulan-Cotabato National Hiway. The two:
1) Ryan Usman Diwang
2) Norodin Malik Andil
both carried their 45s with them but like many in their position, they had merely been hired as day labour by a very cohesive, virtually impregnable KFR cell. Therefore they offered nothing of value. Charged with Kidnapping and Robbery both are currently in the Cotabato City Jail.
The Elf carrying the six kidnappers and Mr.Berdin drove to Barangay Capiton's Sitio Lower Capiton in that same municipality where the truck, later proven to be stolen, was burned. The group then bordered two waiting motor bancas and began making their way through the myriad of creeks into Liguasan Marsh, a no man's land controlled by the BIAF. In what has to be the most disgustingly adacious factoid to come out of this whole sordid tale, Cotabato City's Vice Mayor Muslimin Sema, concurrently the Chairman of the MNLF-EC15 (Executive Committee of 15), and the man who controls virtually all KFRs in Central Mindanao informed the police that he was. "Mobilising" his guerillas to rescue Berdin. Should have been simple since he had him kidnapped.
On Friday, November 11th, at 1PM, children swimming in Kinagatan Creek in Cotabato City's Barangay Kalanganan 2 discovered Berdin's corpse, having been shot in the leg and abdomen. The police ridiculously theorise that the kidnappers were scared of being discovered as the authorities launched a major manhunt and so they simply executed him. Even if anyone executed someone with a shot to the abdomen it makes no sense. Although Kinagatan Creek does lead into the Tamontaka River, which in turn leads directly into the most populated sectors in Cotabato City and heavy military scrutiny, it ALSO leads directly into Liguasan Marsh which is impenetrable to authorities short of a major armed incursion. Although we will probably know just ehy he was killed, it wasn't out of fear of interdiction.
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