Agusan militiamen free 9 hostages

MANILA, Philippines - Nine more hostages were released yesterday in Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur, while negotiations are still being conducted for the release of the remaining 48 captives being held by disgruntled Manobo tribesmen, according to the Philippine National Police (PNP).

CARAGA director Chief Superintendent Lino Calingasan said the tribesmen have become more open in the negotiations for the release of the remaining hostages.

Senior Superintendent Nestor Fajura, operations chief of the CARAGA police, identified the nine released hostages as Lilia Caube, Belita Dolorito, Elvisa Alaba, Finpiana Avenido, Joselita Fernandez, Merly Sanchez, Zenaida Maglasag, Mary Jane Goden and Felix Lacare.

The Manobo tribesmen, including former militiamen led by Ondo Perez, kidnapped last Thursday morning about 75 people at Sitio Maitum in Barangay San Martin, the police reported.

The suspects, armed with M-14 and M-16 rifles and indigenous weapons, seized teachers, students and civilians at the New Maasim Elementary School right after the flag ceremony as they were about to start their morning classes.

Police said the Manobo claimed the government has delayed justice for the alleged murder of their tribal chief and three tribesmen by a group led by Joel Tubay. The killings allegedly stemmed from a clan war over access to logging areas.

Sources from the tribe said they have repeatedly asked for assistance from the government, particularly from the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples, but received no response.

The kidnappers demanded that the police arrest Tubay and disarm his clan and drop the charges against Perez’s group.

Agusan del Sur Gov. Maria Valentina Plaza dispatched Provincial Social Welfare officer Josefina Bajade to negotiate for the safe release of the hostages.

Police said they were trying to arrest two members of the Perez clan who have been charged with murder. Instead of surrendering to the police, the suspects attacked the school and took the hostages.

Police said 15 students and an adult were released to Bajade, while two teachers identified as Marilou Gregorio and Nene Alemendares escaped from their captors last Thursday and are now under police protection.

The suspects, including former members of the government militia Civilian Armed Forces Geographical Unit (CAFGU), demanded that murder charges against them be dropped before they would release the remaining hostages.

“The PNP have expressed preference for the maximization of negotiations and are willing to defer aggressive police action unless very necessary,” said Calingasan, adding that the crisis stemmed from a simple family feud between the Perezes and the Tubays.

“The crisis, after all, may serve as avenue, especially for the Provincial Peace and Order Council, to broker a lasting peace between the feuding families considering that they are blood relations,” he added.

Calingasan noted that the PNP is also exploring the lumad way of resolving family conflicts to end the crisis.

The negotiations, spearheaded by the Crisis Management Committee under Gov. Plaza, had resulted in the release of several hostages.

Meanwhile, child welfare groups condemned the kidnapping in Agusan del Sur.

Akap Bata Sectoral Organization secretary-general Arlene Brosas urged the government not to use this incident to justify the declaration of martial law in Maguindanao and expand the implementation of military rule in other areas of Mindanao.

“In the strongest possible terms, the perpetrators must suffer the fullest implementation of the law possible for this cannot alter the grave trauma and shock it will cause to their young victims,” Brosas said in a statement.

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) condemned yesterday the kisnapping of 75 persons, and reiterated its call for the government to review and possibly revoke the policy of forming militias like the CAFGU.

“This is not the first time that we’ve found former CAFGUs have evolved into criminal elements. If you give high-powered firearms to untrained individuals and fail to hold anyone accountable for these individuals, what outcomes should we expect? We have private armies controlled by political clans, like what we have in Maguindanao. We have renegade groups roaming the countryside. When are we going to put an end to the lack of accountability for this policy of arming civilians who later become criminals?” With Helen Flores, James Mananghaya, Katherine Adraneda, Rainier Allan Ronda, Ben Serrano, AP