Mayor raising P20-M for Korean’s release

GENERAL SANTOS CITY–A town mayor in Sarangani Province is reportedly raising P20 million to pay the ransom for kidnapped South Korean businessman Jae Keon Yoon, who was snatched by the Pentagon gang last Feb. 6.

A highly-reliable source told The STAR Maitum town Mayor George Yabes would pay the ransom and reimburse the money later from the South Korean Embassy in Manila.

"But the mayor’s offer to raise funds for the ransom is contrary to the government’s no-ransom policy against the kidnappers," the source said.

Yabes had already sent Councilor Franklin Canedo to negotiate with the gang’s emissary, who has been identified as Max Binago, the source added.

The kidnappers reportedly sent their demands through a letter and a tape-recorded message of Jae, which Canedo handed to Yabes after meeting with Binago.

Confirming the report, Presidential Assistant for Mindanao Jesus Dureza told The STAR yesterday he has rejected the plan of Yabes because the government strictly adheres to a policy of "no-ransom" in its effort to free Jae.

Dureza also confirmed during a meeting Tuesday with local executives, police and military officials that the kidnappers were demanding P20 million.

During the meeting, Sultan Kudarat Gov. Pax Mangudadatu said the government has not set any deadline for the safe release of Jae from the clutches of the kidnappers, believed to be led by Commander Tigre Jikiri of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

"We will recover the (South) Korean hostage at the soonest possible time without the ransom being demanded by the kidnappers," he said.

Jae was kidnapped with fellow treasure hunter, Filipino Carlos Belonio at the boundary of Maitum and the Sultan Kudarat town of Palimbang.

Belonio, who owns two hotels and several hardware stores here, was freed in Malapatan town in Sarangani on Good Friday following negotiations between emissaries of the kidnappers and a team headed by Palimbang Mayor Labualas Mamansual.–John Paul Jubelag