Kidnappers taking refuge in MILF camps — military

A top military official on Sunday said they are having a difficult time rescuing kidnap victims in Basilan, particularly those who were brought near the camps of Moro rebels, with whom the government is observing a ceasefire in preparation for the peace negotiations. “Our troops are careful in going after the kidnappers especially if they are reported to be at MILF area," said Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command chief Lt. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer. Ferrer was referring to the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the largest secessionist group in the country. “Sometimes, it takes time for us to validate where they are because we do not want to sacrifice the peace process," he added. Ferrer said some MILF members are coddling kidnappers because of blood ties. “We suspect that some of their elements are related to the kidnappers so they provide sanctuary, they provide safe passage to some of the kidnappers because they are relatives. It’s more of the blood ties and not the organization itself," he said. The government has acknowledged a number of MILF areas in Mindanao as MILF areas as part of the peace process. Under the standing ceasefire agreement, government forces are not allowed to enter these areas without prior coordination with the rebel group. The two sides have set up the so-called Ad Hoc Joint Action Group, a body composed of representatives from the military and the MILF, supposedly to conduct joint efforts to interdict criminal elements in MILF areas. Ferrer said the kidnappings were perpetrated by “plain lawless elements" and the Abu Sayyaf group, a loosely organized band of Islamic fundamentalists that has links with Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaeda terrorist network. The latest to be kidnapped in the province was Hilario delos Santos, a resort owner who was snatched in Lamitan City last Thursday, two days after school principal Cecilia Sosas was released after about a month in captivity. Ferrer said that based on experiences, the number of kidnapping incidents in Basilan usually rises when the Christmas season approaches. “They (kidnappers) probably think that the people have money. Holdups and kidnapping occur because they think that the people have money," he said. Ferrer reiterated earlier appeals by military leaders to the MILF to ensure that these kidnappers are not given sanctuary or safe passage “so that it will not endanger the peace process." Government and MILF negotiators are in the process of reviving the stalled formal peace negotiations for the past months. The talks bogged down in August 2008 following the aborted signing of the Memorandum of Agreement on Ancestral Domain. - KBK, GMANews.TV