Reward for Alonto’s arrest deemed too small

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao - Tahir Alonto, the remaining leader of the Pentagon kidnapping syndicate, only has a P200,000 prize on his head, which civilian informers deem too small for the trouble of relocating their families, for fear of reprisal, should they succeed in working out his arrest.

Worse, the offices of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) in Region 12 and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao cannot even confirm if a P200,000 reward is, indeed, ready for someone who can provide information that would lead to Alonto’s arrest.

It is because of Alonto’s reported links with influential commanders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) that police and military "assets" are reluctant to help track him down.

Alonto was left alone to lead the Pentagon gang after cohort Faisal Marohombsar was killed in a shootout with government operatives in Magallanes, Cavite last Aug. 25.

The elusive Alonto, an ethnic Maguindanaoan, was last seen in August in a remote community in a marshy area in the second district of Maguindanao, where he met with two leaders of the Pentagon’s extortion rings, the so-called "Suicide Bombers Team" and "Dragon Group."

The two gangs have since escalated their extortion activities, preying on Central Mindanao businessmen whose establishments they threaten to bomb if they refuse to shell out protection money.

"The problem is the reward is too small. It’s not enough for us to relocate our families far from the reach of Alonto’s men should we be able to effect his arrest," said a Muslim civilian agent of the Army in Tagalog.

The agent helped the Army’s 12th Intelligence and Security Unit and the 6th Infantry Division carry out the arrest of leaders of the Abu Sayyaf’s Al-Ghazie extortion ring in Cotabato City last May.

The government, according to the military informant, should raise the reward to at least P5 million.

Sources from the different 6th ID units said it could be for the dearth of information on Alonto’s reward that their "assets" are not so keen on tracking him down.

"It’s okay with us, soldiers, because it’s our job to run after lawless elements and we are not entitled to receive rewards. Anyway, our men are assured of promotions and appropriate citations if they can arrest notorious kidnappers," said a senior Army intelligence officer.

Members of the business community in Cotabato City said they favor posting Alonto’s picture in conspicuous areas so people can easily recognize him.

Meanwhile, 30 members of the so-called Abu Sofia kidnap gang, all implicated in the kidnapping early this year of Korean treasure hunter Jae Kwon Yoon and his Filipino partner in Sultan Kudarat, voluntarily yielded to the military last Wednesday.

The group’s leader, Dido Binago, and his 29 followers also turned in assorted firearms, including a caliber.30 Browning automatic rifle, shoulder-fired M-79 grenade launchers, live B-40 rockets and hundreds of rifle ammunition to the Army’s 7th Special Forces in simple rites in Barangay Butril in Palimbang, a coastal town in Sultan Kudarat.

Capt. Antonio Arriba, acting civil-military relations chief of the 6th ID here, said Binago and his followers decided to return to the fold of law through the joint intercession of officials of the 7th SF Battalion, the 601st Infantry Brigade and Gen. Generoso Senga, the 6th ID’s commander.

Binago’s group was earlier tagged by the police as responsible for the Feb. 6 abduction of Jae and trader Carlos Belonio, who owns a hotel in General Santos City, while they were surveying treasure hunting sites in Malisbong, Palimbang town.

Belonio was freed in May after his family reportedly paid them money for his "board and lodging," while Jae was released on July 2 through the efforts of Palimbang Mayor Samrod Mamansual and Sultan Kudarat Gov. Pax Mangudadatu.

While admitting that he and his followers, indeed, belong to the Abu Sofia, Binago earlier denied having a hand in the abduction.

Binago pointed to a group of rogue MILF rebels, who founded the Abu Sofia, as the real abductors of Belonio and Jae.