Authorities recover bodies of beheaded ASG captives

By Ronron
April 20, 2007

Government authorities recovered on Friday morning the bodies of the seven workers abducted by the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) last April 15 in Sulu province and subsequently beheaded after the bandit group’s demand for a P5 million-ransom was not granted.

Col. Mark Antonio Supnet, commander of the Philippine Army’s 104th Infantry Brigade based in Jolo, Sulu, said in a phone interview that the seven bodies were found together at an open area in Barangay Wanni Pyanjihan, Parang town at around 7am yesterday (Friday).

The headless bodies of Crisanto Patrocenio, Roger Francisco, Dinnes delos Reyes, Moises Agustin, Wilmer Santos, Loi Teodoro, and Toto Millas, all residents of Zamboanga City, were abandoned some 50 meters away from the main road, Supnet said.

The hands of each victim were tied to each other, according to Sulu Police Provincial chief Sr. Supt. Ahirum Ajirim.

Supnet said local residents first discovered the bodies and then reported it to Army troopers in the area. They were then all brought to the Parang Municipal Police Station.

The heads of the seven were earlier found late Thursday afternoon. Five heads were first seen at 4pm some 200 meters away from the Philippine Army’s 33rd Infantry Battalion (IB) detachment in Barangay Panabuan in Indanan town, while the remaining two heads, including that of Millas, were found an hour later near the 33rd IB detachment in Parang town.

Officials have called the latest beheading by the ASG as acts of barbarism, cruelty and inhumanity.

Ajirim and Sulu Governor Benjamin Loong share the same theory that the incident was triggered by the government’s refusal to give in to the P5 million-ransom demand of the Abu Sayyaf captors, headed by Albader Parad who has a $15,000 bounty for his arrest or neutralization.

But for his part, Supnet thinks it is in retaliation to the assault of Army troopers against ASG elements in Parang last April 17, which hurt the bandit group.

Ajirim and Loong said the remains of the victims were set to be sailed to Zamboanga City last night (Friday) and are expected to arrive this morning.

Loong said he will provide financial assistance of P100,000 to every family of the seven victims, aside from taking care of the funeral and burial expenses.

Supnet said the beheading has somehow left an impact among the locales in Sulu, sowing certain amount of fear since it has been a while since the ASG committed such act.

But he said there will be no changes in the security measures in the island province, rather the pursuit operations against Parad’s men and other ASG members, as well as the rouge members of the Moro National Liberation Front, particularly those under Ustadz Habier Malik, will just be intensified.

Ajirim said all seven are Christians. Patrocenio, he said, was abducted on suspicion that he was an intelligence agent of the military, while the six were taken since they immediately arrived at the abduction site aboard a dump truck, which was used as a getaway vehicle.

Patrocenio is a laborer at a fish drier company, while the six others were working for the road construction project of the provincial government./END