$3.5M the usual price for non-Filipino hostages

By: 11 years ago

In this photo taken with a mobile phone camera on Wednesday, April 2, 2014, tourists hide behind a table in reaction to gunshot sounds at the Singmata Adventures and Reef resort after a raid by suspected Filipino insurgents in Semporna, Sabah state of Malaysia. Suspected Filipino insurgents seized a Chinese tourist and a hotel worker from a dive resort in eastern Malaysia and then fled by speed boat, Malaysian and Philippine officials said Thursday. AP

The Islamic extremist Abu Sayyaf group believed to be responsible for the abduction of a Chinese and Filipina in Sabah used to demand up to $3.5 million for the release of non-Filipino kidnap victims, a security analyst said.

Aruna Gopinath, who specializes in maritime security, said the Mindanao-based group would typically charge a lower rate of P3 million ($66,707) for the release of Filipino citizens.

“The Abu Sayyaf are only interested in money and a ransom will have to be paid before they release their hostages,” she said.

Aruna said a Philippine reporter she knew was kidnapped by the group in 2011 and was held captive for 90 days.

“She met the Abu Sayyaf leaders in Basilan for an interview but was instead kidnapped by them, kept under guard in a house and given only water and two bananas three times a day.”

Aruna said a Philippine congressman eventually agreed to pay the ransom of P3 million after which her friend was let go.

Another Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) breakaway group that specializes in kidnapping is the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters which Malaysian authorities must be alert for, said Aruna.

In a related development, the Associated Press quoted a Philippine intelligence official Thursday as confirming that the kidnapping was the work of the Abu Sayyaf group.

He said Abu Sayyaf leaders were angry because they were not brought into the peace deal between the Philippine government and the MILF.

The most recent in a long list of abductions blamed on the Abu Sayyaf prior to the incident in Sabah on Wednesday was the reported kidnapping of an elementary school principal in Basilan on Monday.