The biology department of the Mindanao State University (MSU) in Marawi City is shut down until Aug. 1, as its teachers and students protest the kidnapping of a professor.
“We call this a rest day in protest of the unresolved abduction of Professor (Sherwin) Nacua,” said an MSU official, who asked not to be named for security reasons.
MSU sources said the kidnappers of Nacua, 47, a biology professor, have demanded P5-million ransom as well as directorial and security positions at the university.
In their latest contact with MSU officials, Nacua’s captors threatened to behead him if their demands are not met.
“Last Sunday, the kidnappers (sent text messages to) all the names registered on the phone book of Prof. Nacua, informing everybody that the professor is still alive,” an MSU professor said.
He lamented though that for a month now the MSU leadership, which has imposed a news blackout on the kidnapping, has failed to settle the case or give them an update.
The abduction, he said, is taking its toll on MSU faculty members and students, as they now fear for their own security.
Last June 26, Nacua and 23 other MSU teachers were headed to Iligan City aboard a university service vehicle when heavily armed men in fatigue uniforms flagged them down in a supposed military checkpoint.
The armed men commandeered the MSU vehicle and drove toward Piagapo town in Lanao del Sur.
Along the way, the vehicle, however, got ditched as one of the armed men driving it avoided a cargo truck.
The mishap gave all the MSU professors, except Nacua and English professor Percelindo Dingding, an opportunity to escape.
Later, Dingding also managed to escape, leaving only Nacua at the hands of the kidnappers, whom the MSU, the military and police have yet to identify.
“The case is now being handled by the police because the perpetrators are simply lawless elements,” said Brig. Gen. Hilario Atendido, commander of the military’s anti-terror Task Force Tabak.
Atendido said all the military can provide is support to the police since the incident is a purely police matter.