Basilan Catholics get threats to convert

(UPDATED, 8 p.m) MANILA, Philippines — A man who took responsibility for sending extortion letters to residents of Basilan, including the Catholic bishop, claimed on Saturday that he is with the Abu Sayyaf extremist group. The man who called himself Paruji Nur Hassan J. Kallitut confirmed writing letters to non-Muslims in the province, telling them to either convert to Islam or pay “Islamic taxes" if they don’t want to be harmed. “Ginagawa namin ito kasi kayo, ang mga pamilya nyo pumasok dito sa lugar namin, alam nyo ang Basilan, lugar ito ng mga Muslim, lugar ng mga Yakan, inagaw lang ng mga ninuno nya sa mga ninuno namin…," Kalittut said in an interview with Radio Veritas on Saturday. The interview followed that with Basilan Bishop Martin Jumoad, who complained that the renewed threats has caused fear and panic among Catholics in Basilan. Jumoad said the extortion letter he received on Friday was similar to those received by some families in Isabela, the capital of Basilan. “This is a painful letter being addressed to the Catholic faithful of Basilan. It is okay to be poor and I could endure having no food for a day or two but to receive threat such as this is miserable because this is something psychological to spend sleepless night due to threats would be more dangerous than to have no food and to be poor," Jumoad said in the interview. The letter said they were mujahidins or Islamic warriors who were carrying a supposed injunction of the Qur’an, the Muslim holy book, to convert every non-Muslim residing in the province. “Ang kautusan ng Qur’an kung meron man na Christiano na nainirahan sa lugar ng mga Muslim kailangan nyo mag convert sa Islam, ‘pag ayaw n’yang mag convert sa Islam, kailangan nyong magbigay ng jizya (Islamic tax) kung ayaw magbigay ng jizya (Islamic tax) pwede silang gamitan ng dahas o sandata o gerahin! (The Qur’an’s instructions is that if there are Christians leaving in a place for Muslims, they have to be converted to Islam. If they don’t want to convert to Islam, they have to pay the Islamic tax. If they refuse to pay, they can be subjected to violence)," the letter said. Recipients of the letter were given 15 days to respond, and that non-response would be considered a hostile response. Jumoad said he contacted the mobile phone number listed in the letter and a man calling himself Nur Hassan said they were "Islamic warriors." In the interview with Radio Veritas, Nur Hassan further said they were the Al-Harakatul Islamiyya, which he said is the Abu Sayyaf. MILF Nur Hassan said they have nothing to do with the preliminary agreement signed between the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) negotiators in Kuala Lumpur earlier this week, which lists which areas in the southern Philippines are to be considered the “ancestral domain" of Muslims. “Wala kaming paki-alam sa MILF. Ibang grupo ang MILF, ibang grupo ang Abu Sayyaf," Nur Hassan said. He clarified Jumoad’s claim that Catholics were being targeted. Nur Hassan said not all of those whom they issued demand letters were Catholics, and that they only targeted those who they knew were earning sufficient income. “Kasi ganito yun eh, lahat ng may business dito hinihingian namin ng income taxes. Hindi naman lahat ng Katoliko eh, yung walang kaya hindi naman namin pipilitin eh, yung may kaya lang. (It’s like this: We demand income taxes from everyone who do business here. We don’t pick only the Catholics, and we don’t demand payment from those cannot afford to pay)," he said. Nur Hassan said they don’t force those who cannot afford to pay because such would constitute a sin to God. Inutile police Bishop Jumoad said he has reported the renewed threats to the authorities but nobody seemed to be interested in taking action. “I even told ‘yung provincial director walang silbi (inutile). The provincial director should be replaced immediately, because maraming kalokohan, even the city police, maraming kalokohan, I do not know. Ewan ko sa kanila," the bishop said during the interview. He claimed that the provincial police chief reasoned out that he himself is afraid and “could not go to the place … where the lawless elements are." “I am so frustrated because the atmosphere of the threat, consistently, parang (it’s like) we are back in 1998, there will yung kaguluhan ba (lawlessness). Even I, sabi ko (I said) what are we going to do now? We hope the military and police will work hard to maintain the peace and order sa amin. This is police matter." He said many Catholic faithful are sending him messages by SMS (texting) and are saying they are disoriented. Authorities have admitted a resurgence of the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan, which they once exhibited as a showcase of a successful anti-insurgency campaign that saw US special forces and military engineers working together with Philippine troops. US troops arrived in Basilan to help train Philippine troops fight “terrorists" while the Abu Sayyaf were holding an American couple Martin and Gracia Burnham who were among 20 people they kidnapped in Palawan in mid-2001. Gracia Burnham was rescued by Filipino troops a year later but her husband was shot dead by their captors. Another American victim was beheaded by the extremists weeks after their abduction. - GMANews.TV