Tribal leaders want Manobo elders to intervene in Agusan hostage crisis

PROSPERIDAD, Agusan del Sur — Manobo tribal leaders who are close relatives of the tribal gunmen holding more than a dozen hostages on Tuesday urged Manobo elders to intervene in the hostage crisis, saying only respected elders can convince the hostage-takers to go back into negotiations. Three hostages have been released so far as the crisis entered its fourth day. But as of noon Tuesday, members of the local Crisis Management Committee claimed they had difficulty in communicating with the hostage-takers. Earlier, the group holding the hostages warned the committee not to send any emissary anymore to negotiate, after being allegedly irked by authorities’ delaying tactics, especially on their demands, including food, water and medicine provisions. "We had to beg in order to get food, water and medicines and we are not fools we do not know what they are doing right now. They wanted us to fall into their trap and again like our leader Ondo Perez become victims of false promises. We warned Magdamit not to send any emissary anymore," Rejoy Brital in his text messages to his uncle Esmundo Brital Sr. The hostage-takers are demanding the release of Ondo Perez and some of his companions from jail. Senior Superintendent Nestor Fajura of the Caraga Police Regional Office confirmed that there is now “some difficulty" in communicating with the hostage-takers. Meanwhile, tribal sectoral chieftain Datu Tunganay Esmundo Brital – first cousin of Rejoy Brital, one of the five hostage-takers – told GMA News Online that they too had difficulty contacting who they described as "tribal warriors." Datu Tunganay was tasked by the Brital and Perez clans to monitor and negotiate with his cousin Rejoy. Tunganay admitted that the five tribal gunmen were his close relatives and that they belonged to the Brital, Perez, and Navarro Manobo clans of Prosperidad. Police have identified the five hostage takers as Kimkim Perez; Rejoy Brital, leader of the group; Rolando Perez a.k.a “Elag;" Alejandro Navarro Brital a.k.a. “Toto;" and Allan Perez a.k.a. “Lalang." The hostage-takers are armed with M16 and M14 rifles, caliber-.45 pistol, a 30-caliber carbine rifle, and a shotgun, the police said. Tunganay claimed respected tribal elders in the Manobo community where the hostage-takers grew up are the ones who can convince the five tribal suspects to start negotiating again. "One of the important issue that must be resolved in order to have long term solution to this crisis that must be included in the negotiations is the long overdue problem of our ancestral domain conflict which I believed the local National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) offices can’t solved because of credibility problem" Tunganay added. Bae Bongkoran, who is Tribal Chief of all tribal leaders in Bayugan and Prosperidad towns, told negotiators at the house of Mayor Alvin Magdamit last Monday afternoon that it was high time for government negotiators to let tribal elders come in to talk and convince the five tribal gunmen. "I have been telling NCIP-Caraga regional director Jake Dumagan and other government officials that the way to solve Manobo tribal rido that already caused many deaths, kidnappings in the past was to resolve the Perez-Tubay clan conflict," Bae Bongcodan told former Agusan Congresswoman Charito Plaza who was contacted by the crisis committee to be one the advisers in the hostage crisis negotiations. The former lady lawmaker is now an Air Force Reservist Brigadier General in charge for Reservist Group in Mindanao. Bae Bongkoran, an aunt of the five suspects reiterated her call to NCIP Director Jake Dumagan to intervene in the two clans' conflict. “But again my pleadings to have peace dialogue between warring Perez and Tubay clans in presence of Datu Calpit Egua be made were not given so much importance by NCIP. — Ben Serrano/LBG, GMA News