ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines—Military action is now being considered as an option to free two humanitarian aid workers kidnapped in Basilan a month ago.

This after negotiators failed in their effort to have the victims, Merlie Mendoza and Esperancita Hupida, released.

“We are going nowhere here. The kidnappers are just playing around with peoples’ emotions and our laws,” Basilan Vice Governor Al Rasheed Sakalahul, the official negotiator of the provincial crisis management committee, said in a phone interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net.

Hupida, a program coordinator of the Nagdilaab Foundation Incorporated based in Basilan, and Merlie Mendoza, an expert on rehabilitation of war-torn areas in Mindanao, were seized in Tipo-tipo town on September 15.

Sakalahul admitted that he has become tired of the turn of events, with “lots of players around wanting to help.”

“The kidnappers are becoming bolder to the point of demanding ransom that is so high,” he said.

The military option, the vice governor said, had been discussed with Jun Mendoza, the victim’s brother who said he was not yet ready for it.

“He fears for his sister’s life. We are all worried, and for as long as this will go on, there’s a chance that the kidnappers will harm their captives,” Sakalahul said.

He added that if the victims’ families opt not to resort to military solution, “we are not going to pursue it.”

Nagdilaab Foundation president Father Angel Calvo confirmed receiving a call from Hupida on Tuesday night, “pleading for help.”

“She sounded so weak. The abductors insist on their monetary demands,” Calvo said.

Sakalahul said the kidnappers have demanded P5 Million in exchange for Hupida’s freedom. Julie S. Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao