ZAMBOANGA CITY (Al Jacinto / 21 Apr) – Relatives and families of slain Abu Sayyaf hostages grieved Saturday as bodies of the six construction workers arrived in Zamboanga City in crates.
The six, kidnapped on April 15 in Jolo island, were beheaded by the Abu Sayyaf after the island’s governor Benjamin Loong rejected a demand for ransom. The kidnappers, headed by Albader Parad, a notorious militant leader, reportedly sought as much as seven million pesos in exchange for lives of the six men seized in the town of Parang.
A fisherman, also kidnapped in Parang town, was also decapitated. Their heads were delivered to two military detachments in Jolo island on Thursday and their bodies, hands tied behind the back, had been recovered the next day.
The families of the victims blamed the government for its failure to save the lives of the hostages, who were all natives of Zamboanga City and workers of Loong.
“We cannot pay ransom money because of the government’s no-ransom policy,” Loong said. “We will give the families of the slain workers one hundred thousand pesos each to help them (in the funeral expenses).
A ferry transported the bodies from Jolo and a crane was used to unload the six crates in Zamboanga City, where dozens of grieving relatives were waiting.
“How could they do this thing? These people were innocent and only trying to make a descent living to feed their families. May Allah punish the Abu Sayyaf,” one man, Pedro Santos, who claimed to be a relative of the hostages, told the Mindanao Examiner.
Many Muslims in Jolo island condemned the killings. A former governor, Sakur Tan, blamed the worsening peace and order situation on the island and the habitual absences and travels to Manila of many politicians, instead of staying in Jolo.
“There is no governance (in Jolo island) because many politicians who are supposed to stay in their office and do their duties as public servants stay in Zamboanga and travel to Manila for good time.”
“The peace and order condition is getting worse by the day and people are tired and sick of violence and killings and fighting. We need people who will really work hard and served the public well,” Tan said in a separate interview.
The Philippine military also condemned the slaying of the hostages.
Juan San Diego, a retired soldier, who had served in Jolo island, criticized militant party list groups he claimed are allied with the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines.
“While every sector and civil groups are condemning the killings of these innocent people, the so-called progressive political groups, such as the Suara Bangsamoro, Bayan Muna, Karapatan, Kabataan, Anakpawis, Gabriela and their likes, remain silent about the atrocities of the Abu Sayyaf.”
“But they are quick to denounce the military and the government of all fabricated lies about human rights abuses and yet the Abu Sayyaf and other rebel groups continue their terror activities. These party list groups are really communists,” San Diego, a former army gunnery sergeant, said.
Washington listed the Abu Sayyaf as a foreign terrorist organization and offered as much as $5 million bounty for the capture of its known leaders. Manila also set aside P100 million reward for their capture dead or alive. (Mindanao Examiner)
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