Palembang Judge Milanio Guerero recommended no bail for the prime suspect, Commander Tigre Jikiri, and his close aides Salem Piana and Datu Dido, whom local officials said are members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
The three, along with at least 30 Moro guerrillas, are still holding Cesar Belonio, owner of the Tierra Verde Hotel in General Santos City, and Korean national Jae Kwon Yoon captive in a secluded forestland in Palembang, a coastal town.
Presidential Assistant for Mindanao Jesus Dureza, chairman of the government peace panel negotiating with the MILF, said their emissaries are still exhausting diplomatic means to convince the kidnappers to release Belonio and Jae without any ransom.
"But we have no information yet as to the victims’ situation in the hands of their captors. But we can assume they are safe," Dureza told Catholic radio station dxMS.
Dureza cited feedback that Belonio and Jae may not have been the initial targets of Tigre’s group.
Dureza, citing the accounts of witnesses, said the victims even talked with Tigre "face-to-face" and asked for his permission to inspect sites in MILF-controlled areas in Palembang where retreating Japanese soldiers at the end of World War II supposedly buried precious metals.
"Tigre was said to have asked for P10 million in exchange for allowing them to see what they were searching for," Dureza said.
"But the victims turned this down and went home instead. They got abducted while on their way home, not far from where they met Tigre," he added.
Dureza and Palembang Mayor Samrod Mamansual are in the forefront of negotiations for the release of Belonio and Jae.
Muslim and Christian communities earlier had urged Mala—cañang to allow Dureza to lead the negotiations, hinting that Ma—mansual is "politically at odds" with Tigre and Salem Gogo, another local MILF commander.
Tigre and Gogo were said to have supported Mamansual’s rival in last year’s mayoral elections and their political differences were feared to unduly "prolong" the victims’ captivity.
Dureza said Mamansual will continue to pursue the negotiations with the kidnappers, adding that there have been significant developments in efforts to establish contact with them.
Palembang officials reportedly set a Feb. 14 deadline for Tigre’s group to free Belonio and Jae without ransom.
Reports are rife that the kidnappers have asked for a P30-million ransom. However, neither the police nor the military could confirm this.
Dureza met with Ghadzali Jaafar, the MILF’s vice chairman for political affairs, last week and discussed possible cooperation in working out the victims’ release.
Dureza, however, said they are adhering to Malacañang’s no-ransom policy in dealing with the kidnappers.