Sulu residents plan rally against abductions

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — Saying they were fed up with the kidnappings, a group of residents of Sulu are planning a march and rally on Friday to demand that the government put end to the uncontrolled abductions, often for ransom, that have plagued the province for years.

“We have had enough of these kidnappings,” said Dr. Raden Ikbala of the Integrated Provincial Health Office, who is one of the organizers of the Bangsa Sug Against Kidnapping and Other Crimes or Bassakao that is spearheading the protest. “We have so many friends, acquaintances still in captivity and we want concrete action to end these kidnappings.”

Ikbala spoke to the Philippine Daily Inquirer in a telephone interview from Jolo on Tuesday, a day after a group of unidentified men shot dead the driver of a jeepney that had been hired to drive a group of five to six teachers to work in the town of Indanan.

Ikbala said the teachers were on their way to the Bilaan Elementary School in the Indanan town proper when they were waylaid by armed men in the village of Tagbak. He said the abductors shot the driver after he stopped the vehicle at a junction near a detachment of Philippine Marines.

“The kidnappers shot the driver after he refused to follow the order to drive them to a nearby coconut plantation, and the teachers scampered for help. Ultimately, they were spared as the shooting caught the attention of the Philippine Marines who were just about a kilometer away from the area,” Ikbala said.

At noon on Sunday, armed men snatched Jerlyn Ramirez Abubakar, 20, on Serrantes street in downtown Jolo.

Brigadier General Martin Pinto, commander of the Joint Task Force Sulu, said the kidnappers were demanding a ransom of P100,000 for the woman, a mother of two and a worker at a local pawnshop.

Ikbala said there have been about 20 kidnappings in Sulu since January.

He said his group, Bassakao, launched its anti-kidnapping campaign on Facebook two weeks ago, generating over 2,000 likes and support from both Tausug and Christian communities.

Ikbala said his colleagues at the provincial health office would join Friday’s  protest march from Plaza Marine to Patikul, then to the military headquarters, the provincial capitol and to the municipal hall of Jolo, the provincial capital.

He told the Inquirer that the local and national governments must not allow these kidnappings to continue.

“Poor civilians are afraid to speak up and this is the reason we are going to show everyone that this is a serious matter,” he said.

Ikbala said they want the government to act immediately and not to dismiss the kidnappings as isolated incidents or related to “rido” or clan wars.

“The Tausug don’t kidnap people because of rido; Tausug kill their enemies,” Ikbala said. “The kidnappings here seem to have become a business, and government, including the military and police, must crack down on them. We believe [the kidnappers] are just hiding in Jolo.”

He lamented that the kidnappers “no longer pick the wealthiest.”

“In fact, a recent kidnapping (on Friday) was of a poor laundrywoman who also sells fried bananas,” he added, “and the kidnappers were demanding a ransom of P5,000.”

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