For two days now, text messages have been circulating here, claiming that the abductors of 66-year-old Bravick Araral have demanded P10 million in exchange for his release.
Sources in the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said separatist rebels helping the police and the military locate Araral and his abductors have received information that the kidnappers have asked for a P3-million ransom.
The MILF has urged relatives of Araral not to shell out any ransom and instead allow the government and the front’s Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG) to plan out first how the MILF forces and government troops can jointly rescue Araral, now reportedly being held captive somewhere in the nearby Liguasan Marsh.
The AHJAG, composed of representatives of the MILF and the military, is helping the government and the MILF peace panels address the presence of criminals and terrorists in areas covered by the ceasefire, such as the Liguasan Marsh, a 220,000-hectare delta at the boundary of Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and North Cotabato.
Police investigators in Libungan, a town of mixed Muslim and Christian settlers, said Araral’s family, as of late Friday, had not received any ransom demand.
"But we have also been getting feedback from our informants explicitly stating there are amounts now being asked by the kidnappers from the family of engineer Araral," said Senior Inspector Eldy Magbanua, Libungan police chief.
Magbanua said the Libungan police remains firm on its "no-ransom policy" in dealing with the abductors of Araral, said to be members of the notorious Pentagon kidnap-for-ransom gang.
Marine Gen. Mohammad Ben Dolorfino, chief of the government’s AHJAG, said he and his MILF counterpart, lawyer Abdul Dataya, are now establishing contacts with sectors supporting their anti-crime thrusts in areas covered by the ceasefire to gather information on Araral’s kidnappers.
Five armed men seized Araral from his farm in Barangay Sinawingan and spirited him away in his own pick-up truck, which was found abandoned two days later in a secluded area in Cotabato City.