Peace on borrowed time on RP's 'hostage island'

Peace on borrowed time on RP's 'hostage island'

By John Grafilo

JOLO, Philippines (DPA): People chatted and laughed as they
disembarked from an overnight passenger ferry that had just
docked at the port of Jolo island in the southern Philippines.

Workers unloaded boxes of goods and other cargo into vehicles
for hire, unmindful of the fact that armored tanks and heavily
armed soldiers that used to guard the port were no longer around.

One year after an international hostage crisis turned Jolo
into a virtual ghost town, the tadpole-shaped island has gained a
new lease on life with the military's unrelenting campaign
against the extremist Abu Sayyaf group.

Officials, however, admitted that the peace remains shaky and
may be shortlived as Abu Sayyaf rebels continue to evade
government troops hunting them.

"We are enjoying peace on borrowed time," said Sulu police
director Superintendent Candido Casimiro. "As long as soldiers
are chasing these bandits, they cannot give us headaches."

Flea markets have blossomed all over the downtown area of
Jolo, 1,000 kilometers south of Manila. People are out on the
streets, moving around freely and without fear.

"The circus is back in town," exclaimed Belen Sanaani, manager
of a canteen in an inn where hordes of local and foreign
journalists stayed last year to cover the five-month hostage
crisis.

"We can now roam the streets even late at night," Sanaani
said. "We really enjoyed watching the acrobats and playing games
at the circus."

Police are also friendlier, ready to greet strangers with
relaxed smiles -- a stark contrast from a year ago when visitors
were discouraged from staying too long and residents were
prohibited from leaving their homes after 8 p.m.

The nightmare began when Abu Sayyaf rebels raided Malaysia's
Sipadan island resort last April 23 and seized 21 hostages --
three Germans, two French nationals, a South African couple, two
Finns, a Franco-Lebanese woman, nine Malaysians and two
Filipinos.

The extremists then smuggled their captives into Jolo, where
they were held in the jungles until they were freed in August and
September.

During difficult negotiations to end the crisis, Abu Sayyaf
rebels terrorized Jolo. Several grenade attacks rocked the
downtown area, killing dozens of people and injuring more than
100 others. Killings were a daily occurrence.

The extremists also took additional hostages -- including
foreign and local journalists and 12 Christian missionaries who
went on a "prayer mission" in a bid to end the siege. At one
point, the rebels held a total of 40 captives.

Except for Roland Ullah, a Filipino dive instructor who was
among the captives seized in Sipadan, all the hostages were
gradually freed in exchange for more than US$17.5 million in
ransom, the bulk of which was believed to have been bankrolled by
Libya.

Others were rescued by the military, including 25-year-old
American Jeffrey Schilling, who was abducted last August.

Casimiro said the situation in Jolo has improved since the
military began a major offensive against the Abu Sayyaf last
September, displacing thousands of residents in the hinterlands
and isolating the island for more than a month.

But he lamented that Abu Sayyaf leaders have not been killed
or captured in the assault. A report that one of the top
commanders -- Radullan Sahiron -- was killed turned out to be
false months later.

The masterminds of the Sipadan raid -- Galib Andang alias
"Commander Robot" and Mujib Susukan -- as well as Abu Sayyaf
chieftain Qaddafi Janjalani and spokesman Abu Sabaya remain on
the loose.

When a joint team of army rangers, marines and policemen
rescued Schilling last week, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo
said she "can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel".

Arroyo said that Schilling's rescue has proven the
"correctness" of her government's all-out war policy against the
Abu Sayyaf.

"The signs of a meaningful and lasting peace are beginning to
show themselves," she added.

While expressing support for the government's hardline stance,
Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan urged Arroyo to also intensify
livelihood and education projects to free the islanders from
grinding poverty.

"The long-term solution to the problem lies in educating the
people and providing them livelihood," Tan said. "As long as
poverty pervades among the people, groups like the Abu Sayyaf
will always rise."

Other respected Muslim leaders agree that a military solution
alone will not solve the problem.

"The war has taken enormous damage to the lives and properties
of the people of Jolo," said Nur Misuari, a Muslim rebel leader
who became governor of the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao
after signing a peace pact with the government in 1996.

"We don't want any more bloodshed," he added. "We always
advocated that everything must be done in a peaceful, diplomatic
way."

Tajit, a 32-year-old farmer residing in the outskirts of Jolo,
stressed that as long as there is widespread poverty on the
island, groups like the Abu Sayyaf will always thrive and a
repeat of the Sipadan hostage crisis is not unlikely.

"Hungry people do not listen to reason," he said. "Even the
lowly mouse when pushed to a corner takes the courage to turn
around and fight back."