Gang leader says Pierantoni dead

COTABATO CITY — Kidnapped Italian missionary Guiseppe Pierantoni has died in the hands of his abductors, a Pentagon gang leader who has sent surrender feelers to the authorities said yesterday.

Faisal Marohombsar, who carries a P3-million reward on his head, said in an interview with Catholic station dxMS here yesterday that Pierantoni died of an illness while in captivity and authorities should now focus on finding the priest’s remains.

"The police and military should also concentrate on the prosecution of the people who have been positively identified to have participated in the abduction of Fr. Pierantoni," Marohombsar said.

"There are reports reaching me that Fr. Pierantoni has long died in the hands of his abductors. The police and military should investigate deeper to determine if the victim had indeed died while in captivity," he added.

But the Armed Forces Southern Command (Southcom) refused to comment on Marohombsar’s claim and said the priest was reported to have died five times since his abduction.

"Until we recover the body, we cannot assume that he is dead. (We have) no confirmation yet (but) we will confirm that as early as possible. It could be a ploy of the kidnappers," said Southcom deputy chief for operations Col. Francisco Gudani.

At the same time, Marohombsar, scion of an influential Maranao clan in Lanao del Sur, denied anew involvement in the priest’s kidnapping and tagged a band of rogue Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels as the ones who kidnapped Pierantoni in Dimataling, Zamboanga del Sur last Oct. 17.

He said the mastermind of the kidnapping was a certain Commander Macaumbao, an MILF leader in the province.

Marohombsar first denied involvement in the kidnapping in a letter, dated Jan. 18, to President Arroyo expressing his desire to surrender so he could again live a normal and peaceful life.

But Maranao leaders warned the authorities against trusting Marohombsar, whom they described as a "ruthless and wily criminal."

A local government official, who asked not to be identified, said Marohombsar has surrendered to the government twice and received hefty cash assistance for livelihood projects that would supposedly wean him from criminal activities.

But despite the two opportunities, Marohombsar has repeatedly returned to a life of banditry in Central Mindanao.

Philippine National Police (PNP) Deputy Director General Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., chief of the National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force, also warned against taking Marohombsar’s surrender feelers seriously.

"There should be unconditional surrender because they were involved in several kidnapping incidents, so they should face the music," Ebdane said, noting that Marohombsar had earlier sent three other surrender feelers, all of which were not fulfilled.

Aside from Pierantoni’s kidnapping, police believe Marohombsar was also involved in the kidnapping of Canadian Pierre Belanger and four Chinese nationals.

Police said Marohombsar was also involved in the kidnapping in June last year in Matalam, North Cotabato of Chinese engineer Zhang Zhongquian, who was working on a government irrigation project.

His group reportedly received some P8 million from Zhang’s relatives but abducted the three other Chinese nationals and the Filipino guide who delivered the ransom.

He is also believed to be responsible for the kidnapping of one Florentino Congson and his son Jojo in Cotabato City in 1992 and were only released after the payment of P5 million ransom on Aug. 23 last year.

He surrender to the DILG in 1992 but soon resumed his criminal activities, police said.