Prime Minister Najib Razak was in Manila last November for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit when he was informed by officials that Malaysian hostage, Bernard Then, who was abducted by the Abu Sayyaf group, was beheaded.
“He was upset and very shocked,” recalled a Malaysian official.
When he spoke to the Malaysian media in Manila, Najib said President Benigno Aquino III had told him that Then’s beheading was probably carried out due to Philippine army operations and that Then had slowed down the militants who were moving from one place to another.
“That is not an excuse we can accept because he should have been released,” Najib told the media.
He described the beheading as savage and a barbaric act.
READ: Malaysian beheaded by Abu Sayyaf after kin failed to comply with ransom demand – military
There seems to be no end to the kidnappings. Now more hostages, at least 20, are in the hands of the militants who are demanding ransoms.
They include four Malaysian sailors who were taken from their boat by Abu Sayyaf militants on April 1 in international waters near Pulau Ligitan. Their fate remains unknown.
READ: 4 Malaysians reported seized by Abu Sayyaf
Fourteen Indonesians travelling in tugboats from Borneo to the Philippines were also abducted by hijackers in two separate cases recently.
Even as the foreign governments were working to get their citizens released, more shocking news came – Abu Sayyaf gunmen had beheaded Canadian John Ridsdel in the southern province of Sulu, sparking condemnation from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Indonesia is still struggling with how to deal with the kidnapping of its citizens and is hosting talks with Malaysia and the Philippines to boost maritime security.
The meeting of foreign ministers and military chiefs in Jakarta is to discuss joint patrols to protect shipping in the waters between the three countries following the kidnappings.
The Philippine military has said the militants have been targeting foreign crews of slow-moving tugboats because they can no longer penetrate resorts and coastal towns in Sabah due to increased security.
Last week, Foreign Minister Anifah Aman was in Manila to meet his Filipino counterpart, Jose Rene D. Almendras. More assurance was given that Manila was doing all it could to secure the release of the hostages.
The Philippine military and police reportedly said that “there will be no letup” in the effort to combat the militants and find the hostages. But they have had little success in securing their freedom.
All these assurances somehow ring hollow.
We are dealing with human lives. If the foreign governments are frustrated with the way the crisis is being handled by Manila, imagine the anguish and uncertainty of family members waiting for news of their loved ones.
The kidnappings are taking place in the Philippines’ own backyard and the question arises as to whether they are doing enough to tackle the problem at source.
The answer will be no. After all how do you explain the alarming number of people being kidnapped and brought back to the Philippines with a price put on their head?
It is election period in the Philippines. A lot of energy is spent on political campaigning by politicians and fears remain that the lives of the hostages are not on their priority list.
“Manila must be doing more to tackle the kidnapping and transborder crime activities and I seriously think they are not doing enough,” said a security official.
Security is a big challenge for the Philippines. While its military is battling the militants in the south, up north Manila sent its ships and aircraft to keep watch over the South China Sea, where tensions are building up with China.
Another problem has risen from these hostage-taking cases. It is affecting the economic activities of citizens living on both sides of the border.
Sabah has shut down its eastern international boundaries to cross- border trade as part of measures to clamp down on the kidnapping groups.
Barter trade is a lifeline for people on Tawi-Tawi, the southern-most Philippine province and the closest to Sabah, for their rice, cooking gas and fuel.
Authorities in several Indonesian coal ports have blocked departures of ships for the Philippines over security concerns. Indonesia supplies 70 percent of the Philippines’ coal import needs.
The calls for joint navy and air patrol efforts among neighboring countries are getting louder. But that is a stop-gap measure.
These kidnapping cases are affecting the image of the region as well.
Filipinos are about to elect a new president. Let’s hope one of the priorities of the new leader is to tackle, with a lot of care, the safe release of the hostages and subsequently peace in southern Philippines.