Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Zamboanga City (Fides Service) – Fear for tourists and missionaries in south Philippines returns. The news of the kidnapping of two American tourists on holiday on the island of Tictabon, off the coast of Zamboanga City (in the extreme south of 'Mindanao Island), has revived a phenomenon that in recent years has also seen the participation of missionaries, like Father Giancarlo Bossi (PIME). The hostages are now in the hands of the kidnappers, Gerfa Yeatts Lunsmann, a fifty-year old American woman originally from the Philippines, her 14-year old son Kevin, and her 19-year old Philippine grandson, Romnick Jakar. They were kidnapped today by a dozen of armed men who arrived on the island by boat.
"The business of kidnapping, which becomes a real form of financing for terrorists and criminal groups, has never stopped in southern Philippines", Fr. Paul Nicelli, PIME tells Fides, Islamologist and missionary who has long lived in the Philippines, and had just returned to Italy after a trip to Zamboanga City. "Small criminal gangs kidnap tourists or businessmen and then sell the hostages to other groups and make them a source of income. If then the hostages are in the hands of 'Abu Sayyaf', the issue becomes political and becomes a different matter," the missionary tells Fides.
"Over the last six months there have been at least 11 such cases in Zamboanga", area where you still feel the tension. Fr. Nicelli refers to the ongoing conflict in southern Philippines between government and Islamic rebel groups, which still must lead to a stable peace agreement.
"There is a difference – recalls Fr. Nicelli – among terrorist groups, officially outlawed, such as Abu Sayyaf, and rebel groups such as the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) that for years have been negotiating with the government". After the failure of the proposed agreement in 2008 - considered unconstitutional - the peace process "must start off again, although there is much frustration in the population, Muslim and non-Muslim, of Mindanao", he says. "The outlook is positive - thanks to the new Aquino government - but key points have to be clarified: Muslim groups no longer have to refer to historical institutions as the sultanates, they must accept a regional autonomy, and not demand more, while respecting the interests of the non-Muslim population, that is to say, Christians and indigenous people". (PA) (Agenzia Fides 12/07/2011)
