ZABIDA, Nagdilaab Issue Statement Over Release Of Kidnapped Aid Worker In Basilan Island

STATEMENT OF THE ZAMBOANGA-ISABELA INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT ALLIANCE (ZABIDA) AND THE NAGDILAAB FOUNDATION, INC. (NFI) ON THE RELEASE OF NFI PROGRAM DIRECTOR ESPERENCITA "ESPIE" HUPIDA. NAGDILAAB Foundation, Inc.

Program Director Esperancita "Espie" Hupida was released at about 2:00 A.M. today, October 29, 2008 in the hinterlands of Tipo-Tipo Municipality, Basilan Province.

Ms. Hupida was abducted on September 15, 2008 in Tipo-Tipo along with Manila-based humanitarian worker Merlie "Milet" Mendoza, who remains in the hands of their captors.

ZABIDA and NFI are immensely relieved and happy over the release of heir colleague Hupida. We are glad to note that she is in good physical and emotional health; she reported that she did not suffer inordinately while in captivity.

With her release, we are enjoined to enter into and pursue a process and period of healing for her, her family, her fellow workers in NFI and ZABIDA and the local civil society and development communities.

The tremendous challenges of bringing development, human security and peace in Basilan Province and the immediate region do not afford us the luxury of despair and discouragement.

The kidnapping of Hupida, on the contrary, strengthens our resolve and vision to carry on the humanitarian work for the poor, neglected and suffering people. We remain apprehensive over the safety and well-being of Milet Mendoza as well as the two other kidnap victims still in the hands of the kidnappers.

These past and present kidnappings of defenseless civilians pose a serious and unequivocal challenge to our government authorities, local and national as well as civilian and military and religious, to finally bring to an end to this scourge and shame particularly inflicted in Basilan by unscrupulous residents of the province itself.

For as long as this threat remains, all of Basilan itself is held hostage by these bands of criminals, and as such there can be no peace and progress for the residents and those who come to their place with nothing but the best of intentions.

Finally, we thank very sincerely all the people who helped facilitate the release of Hupida, particularly Vice-Governor Al-Rashid Sakalahul and the members of the Provincial Crisis Committee.

May God bless us all.

REV. FR. ANGEL A. CALVO, CMF
President
NFI and ZABIDA

RICARDO LIMBAGA
Program Director
ZABIDA

DEDETH SUACITO
Executive Director
NFI

DR. GRACE J. REBOLLOS
President
Reach Out to Others Foundation

SR. EMMA DELGADO, OP
Executive Secretary
Peace Advocates Zamboanga

ELSA MANABAT
Executive Director
Katilingban Para Sa Kalambuan, Inc.

2 Aid Workers Bihag Pa Rin Ng Mga Bandido Sa Basilan

BASILAN (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 5, 2008) – Wala pa rin balita sa dalawang aid workers na hawak ng mga bandido sa lalawigan ng Basilan, ngunit malakas ang ugong na marami ang sumasawsaw sa negosasyon upang makakuha ng malaking parte sa ransom.

Bihag mula noong nakaraang buwan ng Abu Sayyaf sina Esperancita Hupida at Millet Mendoza. Si Hupida ang program director ng Nagdilaab Foundation, samantalang si Mendoza naman ay isang social worker.

Maging ang dating alkalde ng Basilan na Hajarun Jamiri, na sabit diumano sa pambobomba noon ng Batasang Pambansa na ikinamatay ni Rep. Wahab Akbar, ay inulat na kasama sa negosasyon.

Isinabit rin noon ng mga awtoridad si Jamiri sa kidnapping ni Italian missionary Giancarlo Bossi, ngunit itinanggi ito ng dating pulitiko.

Umapela na rin noon si Father Angel Calvo, isang Catholic missionary at pinuno ng Peace Advocate Zamboanga, sa mga kidnappers na palayain ang mga inosenteng biktima.

Ayon kay Calvo ay pawang mga community development workers ang mga biktima at matagal ng tumutulong sa mga Muslim areas sa Basilan.

Nuong Agosto lamang ay ginawaran ang Nagdilaab Foundation ng Ateneo Peace Award sa Zamboanga City dahil sa magagandang mga proyekto nito para sa mga mamamayan sa pagsusulong ng kapayapaan sa Basilan, Sulu at Tawi-Tawi. (Mindanao Examiner)

Military Halts Rescue Operations For Kidnapped Aid Workers In South RP

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 17, 2009) – The Philippine military halted operations to rescue two aid workers being held by the Abu Sayyaf on the island of Basilan to pave way for a peace negotiation for their early release.

Militants are holding Esperancita Hupida and Millet Mendoza after they were kidnapped Monday on a village in Tipo-Tipo town. Five other aid workers from the Christian Children’s Fund had either escaped or freed by the Abu Sayyaf, authorities said.

Hupida is the program director of the Nagdilaab Foundation, while Mendoza was a former staff worker at the Office of Presidential Adviser to the Peace Process (OPAPP).

Basilan Deputy Governor Alrasheed Sakalahul, head of the local crisis management committee, and Father Angel Calvo, of the Peace Advocates Zamboanga, are helping to secure the safe release of the hostages. But there have been no reports about the fate of two aid workers.

“We have temporarily stopped the (rescue) operations to give way to peaceful negotiations for the release of the victims,” said Marine commander, Colonel Domingo Valdez.

Different humanitarian and solidarity groups have condemned the kidnappings.

“Mesdames Hupida and Mendoza are compassionate and morally courageous persons who have braved, as we know they continue to brave, the dangers of working in conflicted, violence-prone areas, particularly Basilan.”

“They deserve to be treated with the same compassion and moral decency by those who come into contact with them, but especially those who they serve whether directly and indirectly,” the Inter-Religious Solidarity Movement for Peace said in statement on Wednesday.

The Christian Children's Fund and the Nagdilaab Foundation are both active in various peace and humanitarian projects in Basilan.

The military tagged the Abu Sayyaf group under Puruji Indama and Nur Hassan Jamiri as behind Monday kidnappings.

Calvo said the hostages are community development workers who have been serving the Muslim areas in Basilan for many years now. He said the victims were on their way back to Isabela City from a meeting with town officials when the gunmen flagged down their vehicles.

The Nagdilaab Foundation spun off the Isabela Foundation, which was organized many years ago by the Roman Catholic prelature of Basilan to provide community and humanitarian help to poor residents in the province.

The CCF, an international child-sponsorship group based in Virginia in the United States, has worked in the Philippines since 1954 and has been assisting more than 453,000 children and their families and contributed more than $7.8 million for community programs in the country.

The Abu Sayyaf also kidnapped nine people in recent months in Basilan and sent letters to Christians living on the island threatening them with harm if they do not embrace Islam. The letters were signed by Indama and Jamiri. (Mindanao Examiner)

Groups Condemn Kidnapping Of Aid Workers In Southern Philippines

STATEMENT OF THE INTER-RELIGIOUS SOLIDARITY MOVEMENT FOR PEACE (IRSMP) CONDEMNING THE KIDNAPPING OF HUMANITARIAN WORKERS AND DEMANDING FOR THEIR IMMEDIATE RELEASE.

AS wE issue this statement, unidentified persons are holding hostage two humanitarian workers presumably somewhere in Basilan Province. The kidnap victims, Nagdilaab Foundation, Inc. (NFI) Program Officer Esperancita Hupida and Manila-based freelance community development specialist Millet Mendoza, were abducted on Monday, September 15 in Cabangalan Barangay, Tipo-Tipo Municipality, Basilan.

We, the members of the Inter-Religious Solidarity Movement for Peace (IRMSP) based in Zamboanga City, condemn this unwarranted and violent abduction of the defenseless and innocent women. The fact that they were forcibly taken while doing their personal vocation and official duties and mission to help underprivileged and neglected residents of Tipo-Tipo Municipality, as they have been doing for others in the other towns of Basilan for the past many years, makes their abduction a very regrettable act of disservice not only to them and their organizations but more so to the poor residents of Basilan that they serve.

Mesdames Hupida and Mendoza are compassionate and morally courageous persons who have braved, as we know they continue to brave, the dangers of working in conflicted, violence-prone areas, particularly Basilan. They deserve to be treated with the same compassion and moral decency by those who come into contact with them, but especially those who they serve whether directly and indirectly.

We urge, nay demand, any and all authorities in Basilan to take all measures to effect the safe and speedy freedom of Mesdames Hupida and Mendoza. By your office you have a sacred duty to enforce the rule of law and ensure the security of the law-abiding and peace-loving constituents of Basilan.

The present Holy Month of Ramadan is a time when the believers of Islam are called upon to exert and practice special effort to achieve personal spiritual purity and generosity towards others. By this sacred, religious spirit and model of personal and social conduct demanded by the Most Merciful and Compassionate Allah specially during the Holy Month of Ramadan, we implore and ask the kidnappers to immediately release Mesdames Hupida and Mendoza.

We appeal to all God-fearing and peace-loving people to pray for Mesdames Hupida and Mendoza, and for their kidnappers, too. May God bless us all.

Zamboanga City, September 17, 2008.

REV. FR. ANGEL C. CALVO, CMF
R. Catholic Convenor, IRSMP

PROF. ALI T. YACUB, Al-Haj.
Muslim Convenor, IRSMP

REV. PASTOR RONALD BILANG
Evangelical Convenor, IRSMP

Philippine Military Tags Sayyafs As Behind Kidnappings Of Four Aid Workers; 2 Hostages Freed

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 16, 2008) –

Philippine authorities on Tuesday tagged the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group as behind the kidnappings of four aid workers in the restive region of Mindanao.

The military said two of those kidnapped - Ludy Borja Dekit and Dionisio Estandarte - had been freed by their captors before dawn Tuesday in the town of Tipo-Tipo in Basilan Island. But the militants are still holding hostage Esperancita Hupida and Millet Mendoza.

Two others, Romeo Delos Reyes and Sahida Alasa, earlier managed to escape after ten gunmen intercepted their vehicles before noon Monday near the village of Kabangalan in Tipo-Tipo town, where rebels are actively operating, said Senior Superintendent Salik Macapantar, Basilan's police chief.

He said the victims are members of the Christian Children's Fund and the Nagdilaab Foundation, which are both active in various peace and humanitarian projects in Basilan, Macapantar said.

“This is great news and all of us at CCF are relieved to hear of her release,” CCF President Anne Lynam Goddard said in a statement. "Ludy has been involved in extensive field work and community relations in the Philippines positively impacting the lives of many. I am sure that those who have benefited from her work are as pleased as we are to know of her release."

"We hope that the others will soon be released safely," Goddard added.

The military tagged the Abu Sayyaf group under Puruji Indama and Nur Hassan Jamiri as behind Monday kidnappings. "We still do not know how they were released, but there is an ongoing rescue operation in Basilan. The remaining hostages are being held by the Abu Sayyaf, by Puruji Indama and Nur Hassan (Jamiri)," said Navy Rear Admiral Emilio Marayag.

Dekit has worked directly for CCF for the past three years as a project officer conducting field work and community relations. She works closely with children and families, according to Gaddard. "Our focus can return to our efforts to help children and their families, not only in the Philippines, but in the 31 countries we serve worldwide," Goddard said.

Marayag said the freed hostages will be brought to Zamboanga City for military debriefing, but journalists would not be allowed to interview them. "They are tired. There will be no media interviews," he said.

Police said one of the hostages, Hupida, is the program director of the Nagdilaab Foundation, while Mendoza was a former staff worker at the Office of Presidential Adviser to the Peace Process (OPAPP).

Father Angel Calvo, a Catholic missionary and head of the Peace Advocate Zamboanga, said the kidnappers are holding a fifth hostage, who was helping coordinate peace and humanitarian projects in Basilan. He appealed to kidnappers to free all the hostages.

Calvo said the hostages are community development workers who have been serving the Muslim areas in Basilan for many years now. He said the victims were on their way back to Isabela City from a meeting with town officials when the gunmen flagged down the vehicles.

The Nagdilaab Foundation spun off the Isabela Foundation, which was organized many years ago by the Roman Catholic prelature of Basilan to provide community and humanitarian help to poor residents in the province.

The CCF, an international child-sponsorship group based in Virginia in the United States, has worked in the Philippines since 1954 and has been assisting more than 453,000 children and their families.

CCF has contributed more than $7.8 million for community programs benefiting children and families in the Philippines. It also provides assistance to communities in 31 countries and has assisted more than 13.2 million children and families.

Founded in 1938 as China's Children Fund, the group changed its name to Christian Children's Fund in 1951.Suspected Abu Sayyaf also kidnapped nine people in recent months in Basilan and sent letters to Christians living on the island threatening them with harm if they do not embrace Islam. The letters were signed by Indama and Jamiri. (Mindanao Examiner)

Four Aid Workers Kidnapped In Southern Philippines

BASILAN, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 15, 2008) – Four aid workers have been kidnapped Monday in the island of Basilan, a known stronghold of Moro rebels in the southern Philippines, police said.

Police identified the victims as Esperancita Hupida, Millet Mendoza, Ludy Borja Dekit and Dionisio Estandarte. Two others – Romeo Delos Reyes and Sahida Alasa – managed to escape from their captors.

They were in two vehicles when ten gunmen intercepted them before noontime near the Kabangalan village in Tipo-Tipo town, where Abu Sayyaf and Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels are actively operating, said Senior Superintendent Salik Macapantar, the island’s police chief.

“Police and military forces are tracking down the hostages. We still do not know who were behind the latest kidnappings,” he told the Mindanao Examiner.

The victims were members of the Christian Children’s Fund and the Nagdilaab Foundation, which are both active in various humanitarian projects in Basilan, just several miles off Zamboanga City.

Police said one of the hostages, Esperancita Hupida, is the program director of the Nagdilaab Foundation.

Father Angel Calvo, a Catholic missionary and head of the Peace Advocate Zamboanga, appealed to kidnappers to free the hostages. He said the kidnappers are holding a fifth hostage, who was helping coordinate humanitarian projects in Basilan.

Calvo said the hostages are community development workers who have been serving the Muslim communities in Basilan for many years now.

He said the victims were on their way back to Isabela City from a meeting with town officials when the gunmen flagged down the vehicles.

The Nagdilaab Foundation was last month conferred the Ateneo Peace Award in Zamboanga City because of its dedicated leadership and unwavering involvement in the “Pantabangan Basulta,” a consortium of ten non-government organizations that engage and support local leaders and multisectoral constituents in the provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi to develop sustainable interventions to promote peace and development in partnership with communities and stake-holders.

NFI spun off the Isabela Foundation, which was organized many years ago by the Roman Catholic prelature of Basilan to provide community and humanitarian help to poor residents in the province.

Suspected Abu Sayyaf also kidnapped nine people in recent months in Basilan and sent letters to Christians living on the island threatening them with harm if they do not embrace Islam.

The letters were signed by Puruji Indama and Nur Hassan Jamiri, both known leaders of the Abu Sayyaf group. (Mindanao Examiner)

Prestigious Ateneo Awards Conferred To PIME, Nagdilaab Foundation And Naga City Mayor

A Catholic organization, a Philippine foundation and a Filipino city mayor are conferred the prestigious Ateneo awards in Zamboanga City in Mindanao. The Pontificio Instituto Missioni Estere is accorded the Archbishop Luis Del Rosario SJ DD Award. Italian missionary Fr. Julio Mariani represented the PIME. The Nagdilaab Foundation in Basilan province, represented by Jessica Flores, is also conferred the Ateneo Peace Award and so is Mayor Jesse Robredo, of Naga City in Camarines Sur, who received the Mayor Cesar Climaco Award. Fr. Antonio Moreno and Rev. Romulo Valles lead the awarding ceremony in Zamboanga City. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / August 24, 2008) – A Catholic organization, a Philippine foundation and a Filipino city mayor had been conferred the prestigious Ateneo awards in Zamboanga City in Mindanao.

The Pontificio Instituto Misioni Estere (PIME) was accorded the Archbishop Luis Del Rosario SJ DD Award. Italian missionary Fr. Julio Mariani represented the PIME.

Ateneo awarded PIME in recognition of its 40 years of committed service to the people in Mindanao through inter-religious and intercultural dialogue and pastoral ministry among others.

PIME has missionaries across Mindanao, mostly in far-flung areas, helping the poor.

The Nagdilaab Foundation in Basilan province was also conferred the Ateneo Peace Award and so was Mayor Jesse Robredo, of Naga City in Camarines Sur, who received the Mayor Cesar Climaco Award.

The Nagdilaab Foundation, represented by Jessica Flores, was awarded because of its dedicated leadership and unwavering involvement in the “Pantabangan Basulta,” a consortium of ten non-government organizations that engage and support local leader and multisectoral constituents in the provinces of Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi to develop sustainable interventions to promote peace and development in partnership with communities and stake-holders.

The Ateneo de Zamboanga University also recognized Robredo’s outstanding and exemplary achievements in public service. It said Robredo demonstrated peerless brand of leadership, good local governance, and transparency and for giving credence that effective city management is compatible with yielding power to the people.

Fr. Antonio Moreno, president of Ateneo, and Rev. Romulo Valles, the Archbishop of Zamboanga, led the awarding ceremony at the Ateneo de Zamboanga University on Wednesday. (Mindanao Examiner)