Hostage talks put on hold for legal review of tribal chief case

PROSPERIDAD, Agusan del Sur—Talks with gunmen holding 12 hostages were put on hold Tuesday to pave the way for a legal review of their demands for the release of detained tribal leader Ondo Perez and the settlement of an ancestral land dispute.

“The negotiations with the captors were suspended. We are reviewing the cases against Ondo in court because it is the meat of the crisis and its resolution has a big role in so far as the demand to release him from jail is concerned,” said Prosperidad Mayor Alvin Magdamit.

“Notwithstanding the suspension of the negotiations, we have constant communication with the group,” Magdamit told reporters on the fourth day of the standoff.

“The group holding the captives assured us that they were in good shape and they received the food supplies sent to them,” said Magdamit, head of the local crisis management committee. He denied media reports that the victims were hogtied.

Outrage and anxiety

In Manila, Education Secretary Armin Luistro expressed “the outrage and anxiety that our teachers nationwide feel” over the latest incident of kidnapping of teachers and school officials that last December prompted the Department of Education (DepEd) to pull out teachers from Lamitan town in Basilan province.

“Conflict is outside the realm of the DepEd. We fall victim to groups in conflict,” he said. “Hostage-takers should discuss through dialog, but please do not take our teachers, students and those who work for education.”

Gunmen seized 16 school officials, teachers and students on Friday on their way home from graduation ceremonies. Four of the victims were subsequently freed. The remaining hostages included a 10-year-old girl nursing a fever.

The gunmen are demanding the release of Perez, a Manobo tribal leader who was detained for taking hostage 79 people in a land dispute with a rival clan. Perez was freed temporarily on Sunday to help in the negotiations. Perez was still with the negotiators Tuesday.

Strictly local affair

President Benigno Aquino III on Monday sent Philippine National Police Director General Raul Bacalzo to Prosperidad, where he met with the negotiators behind closed doors. He later flew back to Manila. Malacañang said the hostage-taking was a strictly local affair.

On Aug. 23, a dismissed police officer demanding reinstatement killed eight Hong Kong tourists in Manila before he was gunned down. The bungled rescue operation sparked international criticism of the Aquino administration for ineptitude.

Magdamit Tuesday said he told the hostage-takers that the committee would look into their demands within the framework of the law but reiterated that it had no authority to order full freedom for Perez.

“The demand to release Ondo will depend on the outcome of the review of his cases and the recommendation of the lawyers and the court,” he said.

Deal on ancestral lands

The gunmen also are demanding the implementation of the agreement that ended the 2009 hostage crisis, which called for the resolution of the Perez clan’s claims to disputed ancestral lands. With a report from Tarra Quismundo in Manila