Let them go

SHE SAYS

Dinah S. Ventura

03/16/2009

The International Red Cross team in the hands of Abu Sayyaf since Jan. 15 this year are in a grievously precarious position.

Government, while adamant about its stance of not giving in to a ransom demand, is not even clear if there really is a P50-million ransom demand as reported in the papers — and without any compensation for their release, what will the hostage takers do?

The answer is something we dare not contemplate as we wait everyday for the good news we desire in our hearts. But more than the helplessness we seem to feel in the face of another senseless, cruel abduction, we can’t help but wonder how long we shall have to endure such uncertainty of peace and order in this country.

History would show that not even Filipinos are safe from the violence of the Abu Sayyaf. And their cause is something many of us simply do not understand. All we know is that many innocent lives are lost in their battle — does any religion sanction mass deaths to uphold its own belief? To love one another and to do to others what we want done unto us are universal religious teachings, so any form of violence undertaken in the name of religion is considered fundamentalist, fanatical fervor. Moreover, taking someone’s freedom to gain one’s end is a crime.

Kidnapping for ransom was known to be the Abu Sayyaf bread and butter for many years until it appeared to focus on sowing more fear through bombings.

The militant Islamic group, one of several guerilla organizations in the Philippines, cemented its name in infamy when it kidnapped a group of foreign tourists from a Malaysian resort island in 2000, then another group of Americans and Filipinos the following year, but it was its bombing of the Superferry 14 in 2004 that gave it a much more fearsome image.

With the 9-11 attack ever fresh in everyone’s minds, that terrorist act that killed over a hundred passengers shook us to the core. A Time story reveals that the man who brought the time bomb (hidden in a TV set in a box) into the ship made sure he placed it where it would “maximize panic and loss of life.”

The group has claimed responsibility for many bombings, attacks and assassinations in the country. Their brand of force and violence adds to the chaotic character of southern Philippines, where militants have been, for many decades now, battling against government for an independent Islamic state.

The Abu Sayyaf is also believed to have ties with the al-Quaeda and Osama bin Laden.

Although some of its leaders have been killed in military operations, the existence of Abu Sayyaf continues as proven by the latest kidnapping.

Founded in the 1980s by Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani, an Islamic scholar who was killed in 1998, Abu Sayyaf made household names of Commander Robot, or Ghalib Andang, the man took charge of the 2000 kidnapping, and Khadaffy Janjalani, the younger brother of Abu Sayyaf’s founder.

The Mindanao problem continues to haunt us as groups like the Abu Sayyaf, along with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), exerts violent pressure the Philippine government into signing over a 13-province autonomous region in the south.

With all these going on, Mindanao remains sluggish in economic development, which a pity since the biggest island of the Philippines has so much potential. The tourism potential alone remains largely untapped because of the instability in the province. While only a few parts of Mindanao are considered dangerous, many people would rather not risk, considering the past activities of the Abu Sayyaf.

Which brings us back to the problem at hand: The poor Red Cross volunteers, whose selfless efforts were repaid by this fear and suffering in the hands of this group. Pleas to let these people go, that they and others like them are only trying to help people in Mindanao, have fallen on deaf ears. While no one can condone the kidnapping of anyone, the fact that these three were there on a mission of service makes this all the more senseless and unforgivable.

The problem of Mindanao remains a ticking time bomb for our government.

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