GABRIEL CANIZARES was by no means the first teacher in the Philippines to be abducted and beheaded.
On May 6, 2000, the headless bodies of teachers Dante Uban and Nelson Enriquez of Sinangkapan High School and Sinangkapan Elementary School, respectively, were found in Basilan. They were reportedly beheaded as the Abu Sayyaf?s ?birthday gift? to then President Joseph Estrada.
Kidnapping teachers for ransom doesn?t make sense. Everybody knows teachers barely make enough to tide them over until the next paycheck. How can their families be expected to afford the ransom?
Gabriel Canizares was the family?s breadwinner. It was impossible for his parents and siblings to raise the P2 million demanded by his abductors, even if they begged, stole and borrowed.
In a decent society, civilians are not attacked purposely even in times of war. Teachers are civilians. On top of that, they are civilians with a mission, which is to guide the young through the maze that leads to a vault of values that human beings need to get along with one another, to a chest of stories, art, music and other treasures that make life worth the stay and, if he is a good teacher, to a well of wisdom.
Don?t terrorists have children who need teachers? Or have they stopped sending their young to school because they think all their children need is hands-on training on how to fire a gun or sever a head?
The following list, which goes back to the year 2000 only, reveals that teachers in Mindanao have been easy prey. Read it and weep.
2000: 37 reported victims
March?Two teachers were abducted by gunmen who barged into a public school building in the village of Kabaluay on the outskirts of southern Zamboanga City, police said.
March 9?Teachers Leticia Calo and Maybelyn (Nevelyn) Apolinario were abducted by four gunmen. They were rescued March 22.
March 14?Teacher Cecille Fermace was abducted outside a public elementary school in Kabuntalan, Maguindanao, and taken away on a motor boat. Another teacher was also seized but managed to escape, according to police. Fermace was released on March 17.
March 15?Unidentified men in Datu Odin Sinsuat town in Maguindanao took Misuari Sipe, an instructor of the Cotabato City Polytechnic College.
March 20-22?Teachers were abducted from four schools in Basilan.
Seized at the Tumahubong East Elementary School were school supervisor Juanito Arellano and teachers Nurhaida Katoh, Saida Sahirin, Nita Abajud, Macario Mandun, Abubakar Denil, Sahijain Saijan and Haiba Muslimin.
Abducted at the Sinangkapan Elementary School in Tuburan town were 21 pupils and teachers Nelson Enriquez, Laida Adjun, Teresita Academia, Erlinda Manuel, Editha Lumome and Albert Sahao.
At the Sinangkapan National High School, the rebels seized teachers Ruben Democrito, Rodolfo Irong and Dante Uban.
They also abducted at the Claret High School Fr. Roel Gallardo, school director and parish priest; Reynaldo Rubio, principal; and teachers Winifer Silorio, Annabel Mendoza and Marissa Rante.
April 19?Dante Uban and Nelson Enriquez were believed beheaded as the Abu Sayyaf?s ?birthday gift? to President Joseph Estrada. Their headless bodies were found on May 6.
May 3?The military rescued six kidnapped teachers. Three others were killed. Survivors said the rebels executed Claret?s Gallardo and Mendoza, Sinangkapan High School teacher Democrito and Sinangkapan Elementary School teacher Lumome.
July?Sinangkapan Elementary School teachers Academia and Manuel were released by the Abu Sayyaf.
June 19?Public school teachers Edna Quimeging and Elizabeth Porfirio were kidnapped in Kalawit, Zamboanga del Norte. They were rescued on Aug. 5.
July 13?Armed men snatched public school teachers Annalyn Cruz, Daisylyn Camacho and Nelson Prantar in a coastal village of Naga, Zamboanga del Sur. Camacho and Cruz were released on Aug. 23. At dawn on July 23, Prantar escaped from his kidnappers.
Aug. 15?Maria Teresa Raz was freed unharmed. She was reportedly kidnapped in Basilan (no information on when she was abducted).
Aug. 23?Suspected Abu Sayyaf gunmen snatched Marissa Adjad at the Sulu School of Arts and Trade in Talipao.
Oct. 14?Arvia Abrera was kidnapped by armed men in Basilan.
2002: 4 reported victims
Sept. 13?Luzvillar Castillon, Editha Buntilao, Emma Karaan and Salvacion Miken, teachers at the Mindanao State University (MSU) Integrated Laboratory School, were seized by four armed men in Marawi. They were released on Sept. 25.
2003: 1 reported victim
Feb. 26?Rhede Nelson Manulat, a professor at the MSU, was abducted in Marawi City.
2005: At least 10 victims
April 21?14 people, mostly teachers and students of MSU, were kidnapped while on their way to Marawi City. They were rescued eight hours later.
Dec. 2?Couple Felipe and Helen Lacunias, teachers at the Lanao National College of Arts and Trade in Marawi City, were abducted by two armed men. Moro guerrillas and government forces rescued them on Dec. 4 in Piagapo, Lanao del Sur.
2008: 23 reported victims
Jan. 15?Teacher Omar Taup was snatched by armed men who shot and killed Oblate priest Rey Roda in Barangay Tabawan, South Ubian town. Taup was released sometime in March.
June 8?MSU professor Octavio Dinampo was abducted in Sulu, together with broadcast journalist Ces Drilon of ABS-CBN and her two cameramen. Dinampo was freed June 17.
June 26?21 MSU teachers were kidnapped, but 20 were freed shortly after. One was released in December.
2009: 7 reported victims
Jan. 23?Landang Gua Elementary School teachers Janette de los Reyes, Rafael Mayonado and Freires Quizon were abducted by bandits on their way to work and taken to Basilan. They were freed on May 27.
March 13?Jocelyn Enriquez, Jocelyn Inion and Noemi Mandi were on a motor boat from Bangkaw Bangkaw Elementary School en route to Naga town when abducted by armed men. They were released on Sept. 23.
Oct. 19?Gabriel Canizares was seized. On Nov. 9, Canizares? severed head, stuffed in his own backpack, was found outside a gasoline station in Jolo.
Compiled by Schatzi Quodala, Inquirer Research
(Source: Inquirer Archives)
