No demand yet for kidnapped Basilan State College vice president

ISABELA CITY, Basilan, Philippines – Authorities have yet to establish contact with the kidnappers of a school official kidnapped here last Thursday.

Citing intelligence reports, Isabela police director Superintendent Alberto Larubis said the kidnappers of Dr. Orlando Fajardo, vice president of the Basilan State College, brought the victim somewhere along the coastal area of Lantawan.

Fajardo, his wife Lilia and a neighbor were on board their van on their way home when they were blocked by unidentified gunmen in Barangay Sumagdang late Thursday.

The gunmen commandeered the van and fled with Fajardo, leaving Lilia and their neighbor, police said.

According to Lilia, they recognized one of the gunmen as among those who were seen loitering in front of their house before the kidnapping of her husband.

Responding lawmen caught up with the kidnappers but were repulsed by heavy gunfire.

Police recovered a motorcycle and the van owned by Fajardo.

Larubis said Fajardo tried to escape while his kidnappers were busy trading shots with the responding lawmen, but he was caught and dragged into a waiting pumpboat.

“As of now no one has claimed responsibility and no demand has been relayed by the suspects,” he added.

Lilia added they have not yet received any ransom demand.

The kidnapping of Fajardo came a day after the severed head of Marquez Singson, a factory worker earlier kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf, was found in the city plaza.

The Abu Sayyaf reportedly beheaded Singson after his family failed to pay the ransom demand.

Authorities, however, would not confirm if the Abu Sayyaf kidnapped Fajardo.

The Department of Education (DepEd) and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), on the other hand, made an appeal to the kidnappers to release Fajardo.

“We hope that his kidnappers will consider how Dr. Fajardo has helped so many of our students in Basilan, whether they are Christian or Muslim, in giving them access to quality higher education,” CHED chairman Emmanuel Angeles said.

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said the kidnapping of Fajardo would adversely affect the implementation of the Accelerated Teacher Education Program (ATEP) in Basilan.

“Dr. Fajardo manages our ATEP offered at the Basilan State College where 27 of our Muslim public school teachers are earning their diplomas in BS Education Major in Islamic Studies and Arabic Language,” Lapus said.

BSC president Idris Hakim said Fajardo has been instrumental in the continued delivery of quality education among Christian and Muslim youths in Basilan amid the threat of the Abu Sayyaf in the island province.

– With Rainier Allan Ronda