EDITORIAL — Justice after 24 years, and counting

Remember Galib Andang, a.k.a. Commander Robot? The notorious Abu Sayyaf bandit was killed together with 12 other members of the terrorist group in 2005 in an attempted jailbreak at the Camp Bagong Diwa detention center in Taguig.

This was five years after the Abu Sayyaf faction led by Andang kidnapped 19 foreigners and two Filipinos from a diving resort on Sipadan Island in Malaysia, and held them in Sulu. Over five months, the hostages were gradually released following the payment of millions of dollars in ransom. The crisis ended in September 2000 in a military raid.

Yesterday, the Taguig City Regional Trial Court released a decision finding 17 Abu Sayyaf members guilty of 21 counts of kidnapping and serious illegal detention with ransom. RTC Branch 153 Judge Mariam Bien sentenced the 17 to life in prison. They were also ordered to pay each of the 21 victims P100,000 as civil indemnity and P200,000 in moral and exemplary damages, with an annual interest rate of six percent from the date of finality of judgment until fully paid.

Will that final judgment, to be rendered by the Supreme Court after deliberations by the Court of Appeals, take another 24 years? A generation has reached adulthood in the years since the kidnapping was perpetrated. There was positive identification of the kidnappers by the hostage they held longest, for three years – Filipino Roland Ullah – as well as two state witnesses. This long wait for justice in such a high-profile case is an atrocious injustice. The only consolation here is that many of the kidnappers have been behind bars since their arrest, while several others have been killed in armed encounters with state forces.

The verdict was rendered as yet another foreigner has been kidnapped in Mindanao. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation has reportedly joined in the search for American vlogger Elliot Eastman, who was kidnapped from his Filipino in-laws’ house on the night of Oct. 17 in Sibuco town in Zamboanga del Norte. It’s unclear if ransom has been demanded for Eastman, who posted concerns online about his safety prior to his kidnapping, saying the local community had become hostile to him.

Regardless of the reason, his kidnapping is yet another blackeye for the country, especially as it was carried out just a day after the date on the much belated verdict on the Sipadan case. The 2000 kidnapping was a national embarrassment for the Philippines. The long wait for justice is a national disgrace twice over.