3 hostages released in Agusan del Sur; 54 still held captive

(Updated 1:59 p.m.) Three civilians in the hostage-taking incident in Prosperidad, Agusan del Sur were released Friday morning, leaving 54 people still in the hands of the notorious Ondo Perez gang. A radio report said the three victims were released past 6 a.m. at a mountainous portion of the village where the notorious group is hiding out. The freed hostages were identified as Templanza Avenido, Rita Fernandez, and Zenaida Maglasang, who all claimed they were treated well by their abductors. Avenido was quoted in a dzMM radio report as saying that she asked permission from her abductors to go back to her home to change clothes and feed her animals. To her surprise, the group's leader, Ondo Perez, obliged. The three hostages belonged to a group of at least 75 people including children who were taken hostage Thursday at the Maitum Elementary School in Sitio Maitum in San Martin village. Authorities said the Ondo Perez group fled to the school and took people hostage to prevent being arrested by police who are pursuing them for their alleged participation in the massacre of a certain Jun Tubay last February.
At about 4 p.m. of Thursday - or about eight hours after they were seized - 17 children and an old woman were released to authorities. Negotiators led by local government social workers on Friday morning brought with them Perez's 10-year-old daughter and his father Conrado to convince the gang leader to surrender and release the captives. The negotiators also allowed reporters to go with them, as earlier requested by Perez. Once authorities arrived at the scene, Perez took the opportunity to air his group's demands to the reporters. However, Perez insisted they would release the remaining captives only when criminal charges against them are dropped and their rival group, headed by Datu Kalbit, disarmed. "We are willing to surrender at any time so long as the government disarms our rival group and that our cases in court be arranged so that our arrest warrants would be taken back," Perez told reporters, as translated by the social workers. The Ondo Perez gang is facing murder charges for allegedly killing the family of Joel Tubay, who works for Kalbit. Perez asked why authorities are pursuing his group when Datu Kalbit and his men have allegedly committed more crimes in their town. "Tubay's group has done many crimes," Perez said. Not ransom It was immediately clear to authorities early on that the hostage-takers were not after any ransom, according to CARAGA region police head Chief Supt. Lino de Guzman Calingasan. "Wala po silang hinihiling, wala pong demand kung di yung nasabi lang po kahapon na kung pwede wag muna mag-conduct ng police, military operations at kung pwede yung kanilang warrant of arrest ay wag munang i-execute," Calingasan said in an interview over GMA News' Unang Hirit. (They don’t have any requests, no demands except what they said yesterday: to cease conducting police and military operations and to suspend their warrant of arrest, if possible.) Calingasan said the Perez group is being hunted down by authorities for the alleged murder. The two groups, who are engaged in a sort of clan war, are composed of former members of the Citizens Auxiliary Forces Geographical Unit (Cafgu). The police chief said the two groups, which began feuding in June 2008 over tree harvests, have become "organized crime group(s)" tagged as behind incidences of robbery, extortion, and murder in the area. - with Johanna Camille Sisante / JHU, TJD, GMANews.TV