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."