German, three Filipinos briefly held by armed men in North Cotabato

By Ronron
May 31, 2007

A German national and three Filipinos were briefly held by armed men in North Cotabato province on Thursday.

Col. Pedro Soria, commander of the Philippine Army’s 602nd Infantry Brigade, identified the victims as Thomas Wallrat, May Sharon Jackson, Consuelo San Juan, and Diego Daniel.

In an interview on television after their release, Jackson said Wallrat, a German national, is her husband; San Juan is her friend; and Daniel is their driver. All are based in Davao City.

The four were heading towards a business transaction regarding metals when the Nissan Urvan they were riding was stopped in Barangay Batulawan in Pikit, North Cotabato by five fully armed men at around 9am, officials and Jackson said.

Jackson said they heeded to the signal to stop since they mistook the suspects to be soldiers manning a legitimate checkpoint based on their clothes.

When they opened the door, Jackson said they were surprised that the men asked for their cellular phones and other valuables. Wallrat and Daniel were then tied in the hands while she and San Juan were held by their arms.

The four were then taken to an improvised public transport motorcycle, called locally as skylab, and headed to unknown directions.

Jackson said they were taken to different houses during the time of their captivity up to 1pm.

Quoting Col. Dixon Hermosa, commander of the Philippine Army’s 7th Infantry Battalion, Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ben Dolorfino, head of the government’s Adhoc Joint Action Group (AJAG) with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), said the suspects were said to be cattle rustlers who are not really professional criminals. Their leader is said to be a certain Datu Can.

Dolorfino said they employed the help of the MILF in the negotiation for the release of the suspects since the secessionist group has a camp in Barangay Balatikan of said town.

“Elders are talking to the abductors to release the victims,” said Maj. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer, commander of the Philippine Army’s 6th Infantry Division based in Maguindanao.

At around 3pm, Ferrer said the victims were traced to have been brought somewhere in the boundary of Barangay Balongis, Tinutulan and Balatikan, all in Pikit.

Dolorfino, who is also commander of the Armed Forces National Capital Region Command, said that past 3pm, the abductors demanded for payment “for their victims’ board and lodging.”

To force the suspects to free the victims, Dolorfino said the MILF’s Bangsamoro Islamic Forces (BIAF) fired one round of a rocket-propelled grenade to the direction of the abductors, who were then in Barangay Balongis.

This prompted the suspects to turn over the victims to the MILF forces, said Soria.

Dolorfino said the victims were brought to the MILF camp in Barangay Balatikan and arrived there shortly past 5pm. They were set to be transferred later to the MILF Peace Panel office in Camp Rafanan in Parang, Maguindanao.

Today (Friday), the victims will formally turned over to the International Monitoring Team in Cotabato City.

“They did not demand anything from us. We did not pay ransom but we still have to get our cellphones, wallet, my black bag, and our passports,” Jackson said.

Jackson described their four-hour captivity as “very tiring” since they were just walking all throughout. But she said they were not hurt by their captors.

Jacskon said the suspects did not introduce themselves to them but if she could see them again, she would definitely recognize them.

Dolorfino acknowledged the MILF’s cooperation in resolving the crisis, saying “it just shows that the AJAG mechanism is working.”

The AJAG is an implementation of the agreement between the MILF and the Philippine government regarding the former’s commitment to help run after lawless elements in Mindanao as part of confidence-building measures towards coming up with a final peace accord./DMS