MILF to go after traders’ kidnappers

COTABATO CITY—The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) on Sunday vowed to help in the search for four people from General Santos City, who a police official said had been taken captive in Maguindanao on March 29.

As this developed, friends of Francis Wong, one of those reportedly kidnapped, confirmed on Facebook that he had not been returning calls or answering text messages since March 29.

On his Facebook wall, Wong’s friends said they were hoping he and the other victims—Jason Cababayao, whose family owns J-Trade Concrete Products and Construction Supply in General Santos City; architect Raulito Suyom Jr.; and Rho Steven were not harmed.

Another one urged Wong and the other captives to just follow what the captives would tell them to do.

The four General Santos City residents, who were partners in a construction business, were on their way to this city to meet a client when abducted in Shariff Aguak town in Maguindanao, according to Cotabato City police director Senior Supt. Roland Balquin.

Balquin said he could not provide much details on the incident as it was now being handled by the police’s antikidnapping task force.

Von Al Haq, chief of the MILF’s Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces, told the Inquirer by phone they would mobilize their men to locate the victims.

He said the MILF would closely work with the government under the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group.

“We are going to help. We will coordinate with our counterparts for the safety release of the victims,” he said.

Balquin said the kidnappers had contacted the victims’ families based on reports they were getting but that these were still being double-checked.

The Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), which also operates in Maguindanao, said it had no involvement in the kidnapping of the General Santos City-based victims.

Abu Misri Mama, BIFF spokesperson, said he only heard of the incident on the radio and had no confirmation either that it really took place.

He added he was not certain if some kidnap groups in Maguindanao were involved in the reported disappearance of the four victims.

As of Sunday, authorities had not yet identified any group behind the incident.

But previous kidnappings cases here and in Central Mindanao region had been pinned on the so-called Pentagon Gang, which has links with the Abu Sayyaf.

The Pentagon Gang was founded in the 1980s by former Moro National Liberation Front commander Faisal Marohombsar, who was later slain in a clash with government troops. It operates through smaller cells that are spread throughout Mindanao.

Among the gang’s previous victims is Italian priest Fr. Giuseppe Piarantoni, who was snatched on Oct. 17, 2001, while celebrating Mass in Dimataling, Zamboanga del Sur.

The group was also blamed for the 2001 kidnapping of five Chinese engineers working on a government irrigation project in North Cotabato. Jeoffrey Maitem, Inquirer Mindanao