Was Fr. Pierantoni freed, rescued or ransomed?

Everyone is happy over the fact that Fr. Giuseppe Pierantoni is no longer in the hands of the Pentagon gang that held him captive for six months in their jungle lair in Zamboanga del Sur. But now there seems to be some questions concerning the facts about his release. Malacañang is adamant in maintaining that he was released without any payment of ransom. Some quarters maintain that Pierantoni himself confirmed the payment for his ransom in a letter dated March 16. It will be good if this matter is clarified.

We agree 100 percent with the policy of the American government about not paying any ransom money. It is a policy that if fully implemented would put a complete stop to kidnapping for ransom. We admit that this is easier said than done. One can be objective about this policy only if the kidnap victim is not a wife, a parent or one’s children and relatives.

The thing about paying ransom is that one rescues or saves the life of the victim. But the overall result is that in so doing one has proven to the kidnap-for-ransom gang that they are in a profitable activity. And so one victim was rescued but you can be dead sure that there will be more and more victims that will follow.

The most notorious kidnappers are the Abu Sayyaf. Some of their victims were nabbed abroad in Malaysia and in local tourist resorts such as the one in Palawan. The kidnap gangs are a form of guerrilla fighters. The big difference is that they are not fighting for a cause. They are there strictly to make money through ransom demands. But like the guerrillas, so long as they exist, they are winning the war because their threat is ever present in what is supposed to be government territory.

Today, there is a debate about the Balikatan. The fact, however, is that American troops are in Mindanao to help our troops in their war against the Abu Sayyaf. We were informed about the fabulous things that American satellites and modern aircraft could do in detecting the enemy in the ground. But the fact is that there has been no progress in the conflicting against the Abu Sayyaf even after the American troops entered the picture. In fact, the Americans have lost two airplanes already costing fabulous millions and they lost them, not in combat, but just in routine flights. The Abu Sayyaf seems to be as well-entrenched as ever. Worst, some people even suspect that there is a collusion between the Abu Sayyafs and some high elements in the Armed Forces. There was a time when they had them all cornered. They were given a safe conduct pass – and this was caught in camera – for reasons that have not been satisfactorily explained to this day. Many of the arms used by bandits and kidnappers can be traced to the Armed Forces.

The Abu Sayyaf has given this country the image that it is another Afghanistan. The truth is that Mindanao is a generally peaceful island.