Special 6th ID group to go after ‘Pentagon’

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao — The Army’s 6th Infantry Division now has a special anti-kidnapping group, composed of battle-hardened soldiers, to run after the notorious Pentagon kidnapping syndicate.

The 6th ID, however, said the group, which will operate only within the division’s area of responsibility, will not duplicate the anti-kidnapping function of task forces under Malacañang, the Philippine National Police and other law enforcement agencies.

"The role of our anti-kidnapping unit is to complement the collective efforts of all agencies of the government, under the auspices of President Arroyo, to curb kidnappings in this part of Mindanao," said Maj. Gen. Roy Kyamko, the 6th ID’s commanding general.

The 6th ID’s special anti-kidnapping group is led by Col. Silverio Ilagan, the division’s concurrent chief of staff.

The Pentagon’s leader, Tahir Alonto, now carries a P5-million prize on his head.

The group is blamed for the recent spate of kidnappings in Central Mindanao and nearby regions, including the abduction of Italian priest Guiseppi Pierantoni in Dimataling, Zamboanga del Sur two months ago.

Alonto, according to police and military intelligence sources, is holding out somewhere in the Liguasan Marsh, a 220,000-hectare delta at the boundary of Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and North Cotabato.