Red Cross hostage, parang bula na nawala sa Sulu

SULU (Mindanao Examiner / Apr. 24, 2009) – Mistulang karayom sa malawak na kakahuyan ang paghahanap na isinasagawa ng militar at pulisya sa nalalabing Italyanong Red Cross hostage ng Abu Sayyaf sa Sulu province.

Tatlong araw ng pinaghahanap ng daan-daang mga sundalo at parak si Eugenio Vagni ngunit bigo pa rin ang mga ito na matagpuan ang dayuhan na sinasabing may sakit sa kabundukan ng Sulu.

Dalawang bayan ng Sulu – sa Indanan at Parang – ang Sentro ng search and rescue operation matapos na mahiwalay si Vagni sa kasamahang si Swiss national Andreas Notter na nailigtas naman ng mga parak nuong nakaraang linggo.

Inamin ni Notter na hirap na hirap si Vagni sa kanyang kalagayan dahil sa pamamaga ng mga bayag nito sanhi ng hernia. Si Notter ay nakabalik na sa kanyang bansa.

Unang pinalaya ng Abu Sayyaf nuong Abril 2 si Mary Jean Lacaba, ang kasamang Pinay nina Vagni at Notter. Dinukot ang tatlong nuong Enero 15 matapos na bisitahin ang isang humanitarian project sa bilangguan sa bayan ng Patikul.

Nag-alok na rin ang mga awtoridad ng P500,000 bilang pabuya sa sinumang makakapagturo ng kinaroroonan ni Vagni. Nauna kasing napaulat na ibinigay ng Abu Sayyaf sa ilalim ni Albader Parad si Vagni sa isang grupo ng mga rebelde, ngunit itinanggi naman ito ng militar.

Kamakalawa ay nagkaroon ng sagupaan sa bayan ng Talipao sa pagitan ng Abu Sayyaf at mga awtoridad, ngunit wala namang inulat na nasawi, ayon kay Sulu police chief Julasirim Kasim. (Mindanao Examiner)

Troops seal off vast area in Sulu where kidnapped Red Cross workers are spotted

One of two Philippine Air Force choppers flies over Zamboanga City on Monday, January 26, 2009. Philippine troops, backed by US military intelligence, are tracking down three members of the International Committee of the Red Cross kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf militants in Sulu island on January 15. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 26, 2009) – Security forces have cordoned off a vast mountainous area in the southern Philippine island of Sulu where Abu Sayyaf militants are believed holding hostage three Red Cross members, officials said on Monday.

Officials said the militants and their hostages were said to be hiding in Indanan town and that local troops, aided by US military intelligence, have sealed off the area to prevent the Abu Sayyaf from escaping.

The hostages, Swiss national Andreas Notter, Italian Eugenio Vagni and Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba, were seized January 15 by five gunmen, among them a dismissed jail guard, after inspecting a water and sanitation project at a prison facility in Patikul town.

Police last week said the hostages were spotted in Talipao town, a known stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf.

The International Committee of the Red Cross appealed to the kidnappers to free all the hostages.

"I appeal to those who are holding Mary-Jean, Andreas and Eugenio to let them go as quickly as possible," Alain Aeschlimann, the ICRC's head of operations for East Asia, Southeast Asia and the Pacific in Geneva, said.

"We want to have them back safe and sound. Their children, spouses, parents, siblings and loved ones are anxious and waiting for them to come home."The ICRC has been in contact with the three staff members several times since they were kidnapped and the last time the three were able to call was on January 19.

"We hope that we'll hear their voices again soon and that they remain unharmed," Aeschlimann said. "We also continue to hope that this difficult situation will have a positive outcome."

The ICRC said it has no direct contacts with the kidnappers and ruled out paying ransom in exchange for the safe release of the victims.

Authorities said the hostages are being held by Abu Sayyaf leaders Albader Parad and Abu Pula, who were both former Moro National Liberation Front rebels. (Mindanao Examiner)

RP Troops Accused Of Human Rights Violations Anew

SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 6, 2008) – Police accused government soldiers of arresting a Muslim man on suspicion he was a member of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group in Sulu province.

Soldiers arrested the Lincoln Ahmad last week at a budget hotel inside a police base in Jolo town and freed him two days later. The man, the son of a village chieftain Norma Ahmad of Talipao town, accused soldiers of torturing him into admitting that he was an Abu Sayyaf militant.

Police said Ahmad’s family would file criminal charges against the soldiers involved in the illegal arrest. The Commission on Human Rights said it will investigate the report.

Human rights groups in the past have accused the military of violating the rights of civilians, especially during operations in Sulu province. They claimed human rights abuses are rampant in the province.

Early this year, navy and army soldiers also killed seven civilians and an off-duty infantryman in a raid on an alleged Abu Sayyaf hideout in the village of Ipil in Maimbung town.

Several soldiers were also killed and wounded in an ensuing gun battle with armed villagers and human rights investigators said there was no Abu Sayyaf militants in Ipil and that the raiders pillaged houses of civilians.

The military denied all the allegations of human rights violations and blamed leftist organizations for the false reports. (Mindanao Examiner)

Sayyafs Free 1 Hostage, But Hold On To 3 Others In Sulu

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 12, 2008) – Abu Sayyaf militants have freed late Thursday one of four people they kidnapped in the southern Filipino island of Sulu, police said.

Police said the kidnappers released television cameraman Angelo Valderama in the village of Sinumaan in Talipao town.

The Abu Sayyaf is still holding multi-awarded ABS-CBN reporter Ces Drilon and another cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion, including their guide, Professor Octavio Dinampo, of the Mindanao State University.

“Valderama is finally freed. He will undergo medical examination and debriefing by government authorities. We are still waiting for developments on the other hostages,” Superintendent Julasirim Kasim, the Sulu police chief, told the Mindanao Examiner.

He said Valderama was freed to emissaries of Indanan town Mayor Isnaji Alvarez. “Valderama looks okay, Kasim said.

The kidnappers have selected Alvarez, a former Moro National Liberation Front rebel leader, to negotiate for the release of the hostages, the ABS-CBN reported.

Alvarez is also one of seven candidates running for the regional governor in the Muslim autonomous region elections in August.

It was not immediately known whether ransom was paid in exchange for the release of Valderama, but the kidnappers have reportedly demanded as much as P50 million for the hostages.

The kidnappers originally demanded P10 million, but a radio network dzRH in Manila on Thursday said the militants asked P50 million from the victims' families negotiating directly with the Abu Sayyaf.

It said the hostages should have been freed on Wednesday after unnamed negotiators agreed to pay the ransom money, but the Abu Sayyaf did not release Drilon's group after the ABS-CBN issued a statement saying it will not pay ransom to the terrorist group tied to al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiya.

The radio network, which quoted unnamed sources privy to the negotiations, also reported that the kidnappers have already lowered their demands to P25 million. The reports could not be independently confirmed and police in Sulu said Dinampo had been separated from the group of Drilon.

"We have intelligence reports saying Dinampo had been separated from the other captives for a still unknown reason," Kasim said.

The fate of Dinampo remains unknown. But Kasim said the hostages are being held by Abu Sayyaf leaders Albader Parad and Umbra Jumdail, also known as Dr. Abu, in Sulu's hinterlands.

Police also tagged Gafur Jumdail as among those who kidnapped the four people on June 8 near the village of Kulasi in Maimbung town while on their way to interview a senior Abu Sayyaf terror leader, Radulan Sahiron, who is said to be planning to surrender.

"ABS CBN News journalists Ces Drilon, Jimmy Encarnacion, and Angelo Valderama have been kidnapped for ransom. ABS CBN News is doing everything it can to help the families of its kidnapped journalists through this harrowing ordeal," the television network said in a statement released on Wednesday.

"However, ABS CBN News will abide by its policy not to pay ransom because this would embolden kidnap for ransom groups to abduct other journalists, putting more lives at risk," it added.

Parad and Jumdail are notorious Abu Sayyaf leaders wanted by Washington and Manila for terrorism and kidnappings-for-ransom. The two are also believed coddling Jemaah Islamiya bomber Dulmatin and Umar Patek, tagged as behind the 2002 deadly bombings in Bali which killed more than 200 mostly tourists; and in several attacks in Jakarta.

The Abu Sayyaf group was also tagged as behind the kidnapping early this year of Maria Rosalie Lao, 58, a rice trader in Jolo town. It was also behind the kidnappings in 2001 of 21 people, mostly Asian and European tourists from the Malaysian island-resort of Sipadan.

Last year, the group kidnapped seven people in Sulu and beheaded them after their families failed to pay up ransom.

The US has offered up to $5 million bounty and Manila as much as P10 million rewards for known Abu Sayyaf leaders, including Jumdail, for their capture – dead or alive. (Mindanao Examiner)

Abu Sayyaf Machine Gun Recovered In Southern Philippines

SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / May 25, 2008) – Troops recovered a machine gun allegedly owned by the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group in Sulu provinces in the southern Philippines, the military said Sunday.

It said a civilian provided information to soldiers about the weapon, a 30-caliber, kept by an Abu Sayyaf member in Talipao town.

“The successful operation is attributed to the civilian’s input of information,” said Sulu military chief, Maj. Gen. Juancho Sabban.

“The provincial government’s gun ban is being seriously implemented by authorities to curb the proliferation of loose firearms and deny these weapons from being used for unlawful activities.

Every gun seized indicates that Sulu has been rid of a serious threat --making every Suluano existence safer,” he said.

Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan has banned illegal weapons in the province and ordered authorities to dismantle private armies and arrest those violating the law. (Mindanao Examiner)

Two Kidnapped Filipinos Escape In Sulu Province

Policemen escort two escaped men in the southern RP province of Sulu. (Mindanao Examiner Photo/Nickee Butlangan)

SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 18, 2007) – Two Filipinos seized in the southern province of Sulu had escaped from their captors and security forces on Monday mounted fresh operation to capture Abu Sayyaf militants tagged as behind the kidnappings, officials said.

Officials said the two men, Rolando Benitez and Edmar Molina, escaped late Sunday in the village of Wanni in Patikul town, five days after they were seized in the neighboring town of Patikul.

It was unknown how the two men were able to escaped, but Maj. Gen. Reuben Rafael, commander of military forces in Sulu, said troops were pursuing the kidnappers in the hinterlands.

"The victims are now in our custody and were already examined by doctors. They are okay," Rafael told the Mindanao Examiner by telephone from Sulu, about 950 kilometers south of Manila.

He said soldiers were tracking down the militants, who originally demanded five million pesos ransom in exchange for the safe release of the two men, who are workers of Panglima town mayor Munib Estino in Sulu.

The two had been recovered by soldiers, sent to rescue them, Rafael said. "The kidnappers may have also been pressured by the rescue operation, They were constantly moving from one hideout to another and this gave the victims a chance to escape," he said.

Other reports said the two men sought the help of a villager, who turned out to be a member of the former rebel group Moro National Liberation Front, and informed police about the escape.

The two were driving a jeep in Patikul when gunmen flagged down the vehicle and seized them. The gunmen also took their jeep.

Estino is an influential politician in Sulu. It was unclear whether the abduction was connected to a feud or not or has anything to do with the politician or simply for money. Two of the kidnappers have been identified as Kirrih Hamid and Juhurim Husein. (Nickee Butlangan)

New Communications Network Opens In Jolo Island

Jolo island Governor Abdusakur Tan gives a speech at the turn-over ceremony for the Talipao Area Coordination Center on Saturday July 7, 2007 in Bilaan village. (Photo contributed by the U.S. Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines)

JOLO ISLAND (Mindanao Examiner / 08 Jul) – Philippine and U.S. officials formally opened another inter-agency communication network to coordinate all 52 villages in the town of Talipao in Jolo island in the Sulu Archipelago.

Called the Talipao Area Coordination Center, the island’s elected governor, Sakur Tan, led Filipino and American officials in the inauguration Saturday of a newly-constructed building that houses the ACC in the village of Bilaan.

The ACC will coordinate the town’s villages and various non-governmental agencies, military, police, emergency services and other organizations.

"The constituents of Sulu, specifically the people of Talipao, are very fortunate to have a facility such as this,” said Army Brig. Gen. Ruperto Pabustan, commander of Special Operations Forces on the island.

“We are very lucky that we have an energetic and hard-working governor who recognizes the importance of having an ACC at both the provincial and municipal levels of government,” Pabustan said.

Tan said that the ACC is the perfect forum for the Moro National Liberation Front and the Abu Sayyaf Group to peacefully resolve grievances.

“We are expanding, and intend to link our municipal ACCs with a provincial ACC,” said Tan.

“Alone, I cannot do this. I need all of you, all government officials from all sectors, all military, all organizations including the MNLF and the ASG.”

“If they are genuinely concerned, this is the forum to voice those concerns,” he said. “We are going to invite them to sit down and discuss these issues peacefully.”

U.S. Army Maj. Michael Kenny, commander of American forces on the island, also expressed his admiration for the positive conflict resolution tools utilized by the Sulu provincial government.

“The ACC has been defined as a facility or office that is established as a proactive, reactive, and post conflict mechanism to address various concerns at regional and local levels of governance and to solve problems of coordination and response,” Kenny said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner on Sunday.

“Most importantly, the ACC is a symbol of the people’s awareness of the need to coordinate efforts in addressing the concerns of the citizenry that affect peace, progress and development,” he said.

Pabustan emphasized that the ACC is not just a communications center.

“The ACC will function both as a system and as a council for planning, integrating, directing, supervising, and implementing line-up government programs and projects particularly on political, socioeconomic, cultural, religious, development, security and information issues,” he said.

It was the sixth ACC to be built in Jolo island, but not the last, he said.

Future plans call for ACCs to be built in the remaining 12 municipalities to create a complete network of open communications across the island.

“What we need is aggressive, cooperative leadership,” said Tan. “I am very confident that together, we cannot fail.”

U.S. troops are deployed in Jolo island, on the request of the Philippine government, to train and advise the local military. They are also active in humanitarian missions and were working alongside with Filipino soldiers in development projects on poor areas in Jolo. (Mindanao Examiner)