Muslim bandits demand P500 M for 3 Chinese, 1 Pinoy

COTABATO CITY — Gunmen demanded yesterday a P500-million ransom for four Chinese men and a Filipino they had abducted in the latest kidnap incident in Mindanao.

North Cotabato Gov. Emmanuel Piñol identified the latest kidnap victims as Zang Zong Yee, Wang Shung Li, Zho Zhing, all Chinese; and Filipino Edwin Lim.

Piñol said the four were seized last Sunday while delivering P5 million in ransom for Chinese engineer Zang Zong Quiang, who had been snatched in Cotabato last June.

Zang Zong Quiang was the executive director of the China Import Export Technologies Inc., a subcontractor for a major irrigation project in the province, he added.

The leader of the 25-member gang, identifying himself as Abu Hamsa, told dxMS radio that he would only negotiate with a representative of the Libyan government.

"We are now demanding $10 million for the release of all five kidnap victims," he said. "We will only negotiate with a representative from the Libyan Embassy in Manila.

Hamsa, who claims to be a former guerrilla of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), said he had resorted to kidnapping-for-ransom to feed his family and relatives after the government allegedly reneged on a promise of livelihood assistance when he surrendered years earlier.

"The government broke its promise, now we are resorting to kidnapping so we would be noticed," he said.

Maj. Julieto Ando, Army spokesman in Cotabato, told reporters yesterday the military was providing security to other Chinese nationals working in the government irrigation project.

"We have warned (the Chinese workers) against exposing themselves too much outside of their working areas because of the threats of abduction," he said.

Ando said the kidnappers were hiding in an area, where the MILF operates, but that authorities do not know if the rebels are involved.

But MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu told Agence France Presse last Monday that they were not involved and that they were investigating the latest abduction.

A Chinese Embassy spokesman in Manila declined to comment on the report, saying they were still verifying reports on the kidnapping.

Jesus Dureza, chief government negotiator and presidential adviser for Mindanao, told reporters yesterday the MILF has promised to help in government efforts to rescue the kidnap victims.

"The MILF is very upset over the latest abduction because whenever there is an abduction, that means there will be military movement," he said. "So we should be very careful, whenever our military will be in areas where MILF forces are also operating."

Dureza said Ghadzali Jaafar, MILF vice chairman for political affairs, assured him over the telephone yesterday that the kidnappers had not been monitored in MILF areas.

"Under the ceasefire provisions, both sides must not do anything to disrupt our good relations," he said. "Right now, we are still forming the ceasefire monitoring committee."

Ando said the Chinese consulate in Davao City failed to coordinate with the North Cotabato provincial government for the ransom payment mission of the four new victims.

"We relayed to her (Consul General) our disappointment with what they undertook," he said. "We agreed and our position is very clear that we should not all negotiate for ransom payment."

Lt. Col. Jose Mabanta, Army spokesman, said the group of Commander Tahir Alonto, a notorious kidnapper, was holding Zang Zong Quiang somewhere in the boundary of Datu Paglas, Sultan sa Barongis, and Salipada K. Pendatun towns.

Mabanta said troops from the Army’s 301st and 602nd Brigades have surrounded the Liguasan Marsh straddling Maguindanao and North Cotabato, where the kidnappers are believed to be hiding with their captives.

"There are already rescue operations but always in coordination with the provincial government and the police," he said.

Six people, including the two sons of a town mayor in Maguindanao, have been charged for their part in the kidnapping of Zang Zong Quiang, Mabanta added.

The military has launched a massive pursuit operation to track down the kidnappers.

Meanwhile, Piñol asked Malacañang yesterday to investigate the alleged involvement of an Army officer in arranging the payment of ransom to the kidnappers in Datu Pagtas town in Maguindanao last Sunday.

Piñol said he will not name the officer pending an investigation by the National Bureau of Investigation and other law enforcement agencies.

"I am also confused and amazed on how and why this officer surfaced and got himself entangled in this mess," he said. – John Unson, Paolo Romero