HUMAN LIFE AS A COMMODITY

Kidnapping and ransom are a way of life and a livelihood for some in an impoverished southern Philippines.

Kidnapping and ransom are a way of life and a livelihood od for some in an impoverished southern Philippines.

AFEW days after two Malaysian cousins were kidnapped in Lahad Datu, Sabah, I received a phone call from an operative with links to shady characters in the southern Philippines.

“I’m in contact with people over there. I can bring them back alive,” he said in his usual hush-hush voice.

I’ve known this operative since 2000 when I covered the kidnapping of 21 people – including 10 foreign tourists – from Sipadan island in Sabah.

The hostages – including nine Sabahans – were brought to and held in Jolo, an island in the southern Philippines.

“He’s back at his game and this could only mean money,” I thought. And I’m sure he’s going to con the families of the two men abducted from a seaside village about 50km from Lahad Datu town on Nov 15.

Around 3.30pm to 4.30pm, at a birds’ nest farm in a 400ha oil palm plantation, five armed men had abducted the cousins and forced them to walk 2km to the shore where they boarded a pump boat.

Their destination? Probably Jolo, the kidnap capital of the Philippines.

I’m familiar with the business of kidnapping on the eastern coast of Sabah and islands in the southern Philippines. I’ve met and spoken to the hostages, Abu Sayyaf kidnappers and operatives whose business was to link the families of the hostages to the kidnappers.

There are honest operatives. If I were ever kidnapped and brought to Jolo, there’s one man I know in Zamboanga City who will not make a centavo (100 centavos equals a peso) from my kidnapping.

The tycoon would probably pay for my ransom without expecting anything in return. For him, millions of peso is just loose change. Plus, he has a heart of gold.

But some operatives are in the game to make money. Based on the operative’s involvement in previous kidnappings, here’s his modus operandi.

He’ll call contacts in Tawi Tawi, Jolo and Zamboanga City in the Philippines to find out where the hostages are held. And he will pay a runner to travel to where the hostages are held and take photographs of them.

Armed with proof of life (photos of traumatic hostages with masked armed men), he will visit the families of the hostages and convince them that it is dangerous for them to do the negotiation themselves, as it will require travelling to the lawless southern Philippines.

And only he can bring out the hostages alive.

Convinced, the families will give him money for his travel expenses and to buy a satellite phone. He will also collect money from businessmen and politicians who want to claim credit for securing the release of the kidnap victims.

After collecting RM50,000 to RM100,000, he will fly to Manila and park himself in a casino to play blackjack.

Periodically, using a Philippine phone number, he will call the families to tell them he is somewhere in Jolo negotiating for a release.

Once he has gambled away the money, he will return to the family members with fresh photographs and a story.

He will up the ante. He will tell them that the hostages will be killed if money is not released.

He’ll conveniently forget to tell that the hostages are commodity. The kidnappers will not kill them as they are worthless dead.

The ransom price will go up and down and down and up to make it seem as if there is a real negotiation. And his drama with the family members will drag on and on.

The operative may be sincere in releasing the hostages, but other operatives in the Philippines will also have their own drama.

Sometimes if he is not careful he gets conned by them. They may promise the hostages will be released, but when money changes hands it does not happen.

Last month in Zamboanga City, I had a chat with the richest man in the city, Lee Peng Wee, who was instrumental in securing the release of the Sabahans held in Jolo in 2000. I asked him about the situation in Jolo.

“The situation is the same ... they kidnap two and release one. They kidnap three and release two,” he said, referring to Filipinos abducted in the southern Philippines.

“Kidnapping is easy money. These people do not have a steady livelihood.”

Usually bandits will kidnap rich individuals and sell them to bandits (some using the name of Abu Sayyaf) in Jolo, as the island is so lawless that it is a safe haven for kidnappers. Instead of calling it ransom, the group calls it “room and board” payment for “hosting” the hostages.

I’m waiting for the operative to call to inform me that he has proof of life.