Military urges Indonesian tugboat owner not to give ransom to ASG

From the Zamboanga Today Online (Apr 24): Military urges Indonesian tugboat owner not to give ransom to ASG

The military has rejected ransom demand for ten Indonesian crewmen kidnapped by Daesh-linked militants in the waters of southern Philippines, a Filipino military official said on Thursday.

In a statement, Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla said the Armed Forces of the Philippines also urged the owner of a tugboat whose 10 crewmen are being held by the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu not to give in to ransom demands.

This developed after reports that the hostages’ employer had agreed to pay the P50-million ransom for the crewmen.

“This is the first time we heard about this development,” Padilla told reporters.

The AFP spokesman said the Armed Forces continues to encourage everyone to observe the government's no-ransom policy, because of a very specific reason, it is to discourage this kind of growing industry’ in the area.

"This is also to avoid providing this group a means to strengthen themselves," Padilla added.

Padilla had earlier said the Abu Sayyaf managed to retain a popular following by giving people part of their loot while using the bulk of their earnings from kidnapping to purchase armaments.

According to him, the primordial concern of the Armed Forces is always the safety of all kidnap victims and here are many operations ongoing.

"Details of which I cannot disclose but the Armed Forces is doing everything within its power as well cooperating with all other agencies of government to carry specific instructions in facilitating the rescue of the victims," Padilla said.

Aside from the 10 Indonesian sailors, four other Indons were reportedly abducted by Abu Sayyaf group in the Philippine waters.

Currently, the Abu Sayyaf militants are also holding captives two Canadians, a Norwegian and a Filipina who were abducted from a resort on Samal Island, who they have threatened to behead unless a ransom of P300 million is paid for each of the hostages by April 25.

Four Malaysians, a Dutch national, and several Filipinos are also in the hands of the terrorist group.
There were reports that some groups, acting as middlemen, have been trying to reach out to negotiate with the Abu Sayyaf, said a military official  at Western Mindanao Command who requested anonymity as he is not authorize to talk to the media.

Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office Undersecretary Manuel Quezon III said he could not give information on the military and police operations to rescue the hostages from the Abu Sayyaf.

Earlier this month, the Abu Sayyaf posted a video showing the four captives surrounded by gunmen threatening to execute them in a month if the demands for ransom were not met.

This was the third time the bandits posted a video of the hostages. Last October, a post on social media demanded a halt to the military operations against the kidnappers while in November, they asked for P1 billion in ransom for each of the captives.

Middlemen are usually tapped by the families of the kidnapping victims in dealing with the Sulu-based bandits to secure their safe release. These middlemen are local folk known to and have the trust of the bandit group.

The official warned any payment of the huge ransom to the Abu Sayyaf will further complicate the already shaky security landscape in Sulu and other key areas of Mindanao.

http://www.zamboangatoday.ph/index.php/top-stories/22739-military-urges-indonesian-tugboat-owner-not-to-give-ransom-to-asg.html