Roland Bigler, International Committee of the Red Cross Communication delegate, points to the Philippine map where three of the red cross workers were kidnapped during an interview in Manila January 15, 2009. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    by Xinhua Writer Xu Lingui

    MANILA, Feb. 8 (Xinhua) -- "It's all about money." Large amount of ransom payment has fueled notorious rebel group Abu Sayyaf's activities and has spawned a number of smaller kidnapping-for-ransom gangs in the Philippines, a leading anti-crime crusader in the country said.

    Abu Sayyaf militants, who lost their top leaders in recent years' military offensives, might be further emboldened by the prospect of dragging prominent politicians into the rescue operation, displaying the clout this 370-member extremist group could still wield through acts of banditry, she added.

    Teresita Ang-See, spokesperson of the Manila-based anti-crime watchdog Citizens Action Against Crime (CAAC), told Xinhua in a recent interview that sticking to the no-ransom policy and complete hands-off of Manila politicians, especially to avoid the limelight during the negotiation process, may help curb rampant abductions in southern Philippines

    Security situation deteriorated recently in Muslim Mindanao as at least 12 people were kidnapped during the past month in Zamboanga city, Basilan and Jolo islands, a stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf in southern Philippines' Mindanao region. However, it is unfair to blame all kidnappings to the Abu Sayyafs. Many of them are in fact perpetrated by kidnap-for-ransom gangs. They are plain and simple criminals, not rebels, Ang See emphasized.

    By Sunday, two foreigner and eight locals, including three workers of International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), three state teachers, a mid-wife and a nine-year-old and are still in the captive of armed men in the jungles of Jolo, some 950 kilometers south of Manila.

    "There were not so many cases in the second half of 2008, kidnappers might be hungry again," Ang-See said. According to her organization's data, only 12 abductions were recorded in Mindanao from July to December 2008, part of the 71 cases last year nation-wide, in which a combined sum of 33.67 million pesos (716,383 U.S. dollars) were paid to kidnappers in exchange for the freedom of 94people.

    "The ransom payment is an extremely low estimate because in most cases, we do not know how much ransom was paid. Reports in Mindanao reveal that more than 42 million pesos have already been paid out to kidnap-for-ransom groups in Mindanao in recent years,"Ang-See explained.

    Ang-See said Mindanao kidnappers, mostly jobless and poor people, originally demanded relatively small sum of "food and boarding" fees, livelihood projects for local communities, and in some cases, only sacks of rice.

    But after Abu Sayyaf militants successfully extorted huge ransom after abducting 21 tourists, including 10 Europeans, in Malaysia' Sipadan resort in 2000, and Palawan's Dos Palmas resort in 2001, local rebels and gangs were spurred to action by the million-dollar-ransom prospect in high-profile abductions, she added.

    Police reports indicated that the Abu Sayyaf has collected more than 31 million U.S. dollars from ransom payments since the group's founding in 1992 by radical Islamic rebels aspirant of a separate Muslim state in south of the Catholic Philippines.

    But the allegedly al-Qaida-linked group turned to money-oriented banditry from the political and religious agendas under the leadership of Khadaffy Janjalani in 2000s and ransom has become its bloodline since foreign funding had become scare and difficult.

    Ang-See said lured by large ransom a lot of gangs other than the Abu Sayyaf have actually sprung up across the country, turning northern Luzon and the National Capital Region, which are far from Abu Sayyaf's influence, into another hotbed of kidnapping.

    In 2008, there were 24 kidnappings in Metro Manila and around, equal to the figure in insurgency-infested Mindanao , CAAC statistics showed.

    POLITICS BACKOFF

    Speaking on three ICRC hostages, Ang-See, who had initially discussed the case with PACER, the anti-kidnapping task force of the Philippine National Police, said the case appeared to be more than just about ransom.

    She said no specific ransom demand has been made almost one month after the abduction occurred, which is rare compared to most kidnappings for ransom cases.

    "It increasingly looks like a special case," said Ang-See, adding that the Abu Sayyaf might be using it to demonstrate the group's strength despite the on-going military operations and the deaths of top commander Janjalani and his successor Abu Solaiman in 2006 and 2007 respectively.

    Swiss national Andreas Notter, 38, Italian engineer Eugenio Vagni, 62, and ICRC local employee Mary Jean Lacaba, 37, were snatched at gunpoint on Jan. 15 by armed men in Jolo island of Sulu province after the three completed a prison sanitarian project there.

    Albader Parad, a ranking Abu Sayyaf commander wanted by Washington for European and American-targeted bombing and kidnappings, has claimed the responsibility for the abduction and demanded Philippine Vice President Manuel "Noli" de Castro, Senator Richard Gordon, ambassadors of Switzerland and Italy, among others to lead the negotiation for the hostages' release.

    The Philippine authority initially rejected the call and said a Crisis Management Committee, headed by Sulu governor Sakur Tan and made up of local officials and units from the police and the military, will oversee the hostage crisis, and decide who should participate in the negotiation. De Castro, on the other hand, has publicly expressed his willingness to talk, if necessary.

    "I think politicians in Manila should better be kept off from the case. We have learnt the lessons before," said Ang-See, adding that kidnappers are likely to further dramatize the crisis and put the safety of hostages and negotiators in greater danger.

    "They are playing into the hands of kidnappers who just want to demonstrate to their foreign funders that they still have the capacity to wreck havoc," Ang-See said.

    Abu Sayyaf militants allegedly extended the capture of popular TV anchorwoman Ces Drilon last July and hiked the ransom demand after they learnt a certain prominent politician had offered to be personally involved in the negotiation, local media and sources said in previous interviews.

    Drilon was snatched on the trip to interview Abu Sayyaf leader Radulan Sahiron, one of the original members and the "ideological leader" of the group. She was released with huge ransom payment some 10 days after the capture.

    Local go-between in Ces's case, Indanan town mayor Alvarez Isnaji, was later charged for his involvement in engineering the abduction and allegedly pocketing a big portion of the ransom.

    Unconfirmed media reports also accused certain local politicians and men in uniform in Sulu of collaborating with bandits to raise money for either personal consumption or for political campaigns.

    Ang-See said these should serve as a harsh reminder of how money and politics spoiled the peace restoration in Mindanao, a region that boasts of breathtaking natural beauty, abundant resources, and friendly people.

    "People in Mindanao are good in nature. If the Mindanao Development Plan had been pursued with sincerity and integrity, Mindanao should be enjoying peace and prosperity, not crime and insurgency," Ang-See lamented.