"One kidnapping is already one too many"

Barely a week after the remains of slain kidnap victim Betti Chua Sy were buried, which occasion was turned into an indignation funeral march by the Chinese-Filipino community, prominent Tsinoys led by Kaisa Para sa Kaunlaran president Joaquin Sy (no relation to Betti) met with STARweek to discuss their sentiments on the latest serial kidnappings hounding the community.

Sy agrees with the theory that the kidnappings, especially that of Chua Sy and the 10-year-old schoolgirl in Paco, Manila that occurred within the same week, could be politically motivated.

"But just because there is politics involved doesn’t mean you shouldn’t solve it. In fact, the more you should bear down on kidnappers," he says, shortly after receiving news that the driver of the schoolgirl, Hilario Resposo, had just died in the hospital from a bullet wound taken during the daylight abduction. "Even if these kidnappings are part of a destabilization plot, this should not be an excuse not to solve it. Rather, the more reason she (President Arroyo) should crack down because this is a direct challenge to the state."

Sy, along with a Chinese-Filipino businessman and another member of the Tsinoy community, both of whom prefer to remain anonymous –"and no photos please"–are lately piqued over one broadsheet’s headline (not The STAR) that declares the Filipino-Chinese community is ready to spearhead a civil disobedience campaign in protest to the crisis in law and order. The report quotes Kaisa founding chair Teresita Ang-See, who at the time is at a clinic for treatment of ulcers.

"So I called up Tessy to ask her, ‘Tessy, totoo ba ’to?’ And she says, ‘Hindi, ah’. It turns out she was quoted out of context," he says.

Sy says sometimes people in media are unfair, because they choose to highlight certain angles if it would be to their benefit or they have other hidden agenda. He recalls two other examples, one of them also involving Ang See, when she supposedly said that Tsinoy-owned companies were mulling to close shop for more than a couple of months over the holidays because their production quota had already been met, when she had specifically advised against this as it would put many employees out of work during the time of year when consumer spending is at its peak.

Another instance was one newspaper’s coverage (again, not The STAR) of the funeral of Chua Sy, when the reporter pointed out that one protester during the march carried a placard that read "Tama nang dakdak ng dakdak, GMA," because Sy said that this was just one marcher among hundreds who carried other placards and streamers that–as specifically requested by the grieving family–bore no political color.

"Now why would he (reporter) highlight that? Again, politics," Sy says, adding that the overriding sentiment during the funeral march was to implement the death penalty for kidnappers.

This was contained in a manifesto entitled "Act Now: End Kidnapping" signed by 30 organizations and issued by the Chinese-Filipino Community Peace and Order Coordinating Council on the day of Chua Sy’s funeral. The manifesto also called for the establishment of a special trial court for kidnapping cases and the commitment of necessary resources to the National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force (naktaf).

The manifesto was presented to naktaf chief Angelo Reyes, who "signed the manifesto to show his absolute agreement to its terms".

Sy and his fellow Tsinoys also clarify reports of kidnappings being at a ten-year high, because another pre-presidential election year, 1997, still tops them all, according to independent statistics gathered by the watchdog group Citizens Action Against Crime (caac).

While there are 179 victims as of Nov. 25 this year with ransom paid at P192.9 million, the figures for 1997 were 249 victims with ransom paid at P306.4 million.

But even if the Tsinoys agree that years preceding elections could be a reason for the increased kidnapping incidents, it is not so significant as to conclude that election spending necessarily precipitates that particular heinous crime.

On the other hand, caac statistics point out that in 1999, when the death penalty was re-instituted under the Estrada administration beginning with the execution of convicted rapist Leo Echevarria in February that year, the number of victims fell to 135 with a measly P14.78 million in ransom paid.

In 2000, the year Estrada suspended capital punishment in deference to the Catholic Church’s celebration of the Jubilee Year, the number of kidnap victims again shot up to 219, with the ransom back to the 9-figure level at P261.9 million.

Of course the watchdog’s figures may not tally with those of the police, because many cases are not reported to the authorities.

"But we don’t want to talk statistics here because they will never tally. What is important is to implement the law–the death penalty law–instead of debating and discussing figures," the Tsinoy businessman says.

"One kidnapping alone is already one too many," Sy says.

They admit that the government is trapped in a damned-if-you-do/ damned-if-you-don’t situation, caught between the Catholic church which is against the death penalty, and the Tsinoy community that is calling for the reinstatement of capital punishment.

"That’s the trouble with our laws. You can’t implement them," the businessman says. "It all boils down to a matter of political will."

Sy says there are 80 convicted kidnappers on death row whose sentences have been affirmed by the Supreme Court, and there are 50 more on the way.

At present the Tsinoy community is coordinating closely with former Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes, head of the National Anti-Kidnapping Task Force (naktaf).

"The confidence level of the community is important," Sy says, and, for now at least, Reyes is one guy they can trust, noting how he "has been relentlessly prodding all anti-crime agencies to work faster and more efficiently".

When Sy recalls asking Reyes if he didn’t feel it was a demotion from defense to naktaf, the Kaisa official quotes Reyes as saying, "No job is too small if you are working for your country."

Reyes meets with relatives of victims periodically in a continuing dialogue, Sy says. There are also target-hardening seminars with the community, involving Tsinoy schools, fire brigade volunteers and athletic associations.

Neither does the caac have statistics and specifics about alleged capital flight of Tsinoy businessmen in the wake of the recent kidnaps, which our sources say is "more of a perception."

"But definitely the business climate is affected, and families, especially those of the victims, have really chosen to relocate."

Sy and his fellow Tsinoys cannot but feel a little helpless in the way members of the community are being used as a political instrument in this "political chess game".

"Betti was a well-chosen target. A Coca-Cola executive, so her death was immediately on cnn. And her body was dumped on Macapagal Blvd.–a political statement," the businessman says.

If this was an ordinary kidnapping, Sy says, the kidnappers would have tried to negotiate for ransom even if Betti had already bled to death, and her body not dumped in such a public place but rather buried secretly in a well-hidden spot in their hideout in Cavite while they worked out a means to get a return on their investments.

The Tsinoys say that the Chua Sy and Paco schoolgirl kidnaps could have been done by one and the same group, again out to make a political statement that anarchy reigns.

"Kidnapping has now branched out into politics because these obviously are no ordinary gangs," Sy says, even as he insists that caac does not want to get drawn into the political warpath and will try its level best to remain level-headed.

The enemy could well be bigger than we all imagine, Sy says, because he or she can muster enough resources to sow terror in the community. He also considers very unusual that two such sensational abductions would occur in the same week as the killing of a kidnap-for-ransom leader, Roberto Yap. "Normally, they (suspects) would lie low, but this is no ordinary group."

It was Ang-See, after all, who anticipated that kidnapping would be a major issue in the 2004 elections.

It’s not likely that she will again be quoted out of context, because even Sy agrees that for Tsinoys, kidnapping is at present the only issue. "But we can’t blame them," he says.