Government sends three emissaries to establish contact with Bossi

By Ronron
June 26, 2007

The government sent three men yesterday to the mountains in Lanao provinces in Mindanao to establish contact with abducted Italian Catholic priest Fr. Gian Carlo Bossi.

Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ben Dolorfino, government chairman of the GRP-MILF Adhoc Joint Act Group (AHJAG), said the three emissaries were expected to leave for the mountains after they were given a cellular phone at 1pm yesterday, which they will use to prove to authorities that Bossi is still alive.

Dolorfino, who is also the commander of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) National Capital Region Command (NCRCom), said the three will go on their own and will not escorted by government or Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) troops.

“They are here to establish contact. Then, after that, assuming they could produce proof of life, that will be relayed to authorities. Then, probably, that will be resolved by those concerned in the national leadership,” Dolorfino told reporters yesterday in Camp Aguinaldo.

He refused to identify the three for their security but assured that the men, who are concerned members of the civil society, can be trusted enough because they are willing to risk their lives in going up the mountain.

He did not disclose as well their destination so as not to jeopardize their plan. Dolorfino only said that the three will walk some eight kilometers away from a highway to reach the alleged hideout of the captors.

Dolorfino said the three surfaced after he talked with a Sultan in Ditsaan-Ramain town in Lanao del Sur, seeking for assistance for the release of Bossi, who was abducted last June 10 in Payao, Zamboanga Sibugay.

“The three claimed they have established contacts through cellular phone several days ago with the abductors,” Dolorfino said.

One of them claimed he was part of the negotiating team during the abduction several years ago of another Italian Catholic priest Fr. Guiseppe Pierantoni. Pierantoni was snatched in October 2001 and was set free in April 2002.

Dolorfino said the dispatch of the three had the blessing of Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Jesus Dureza, and was relayed to the MILF, which has sent troops in the boundary of Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur to cordon the area where the abductors are allegedly keeping Bossi.

To ensure that the emissaries will be able to use the cellphone, Dolorfino said he ordered that two simcards – one from Globe and one from Smart – be given to them.

If they see Bossi and the suspects in the mountain, Dolorfino said the emissaries are expected to put the 57-year-old priest on the phone and have him talk to a person from the lowland who is capable of confirming Bossi’s voice.

“I would give probably a 60 percent probability that they can establish contact,” Dolorfino said.

He said the only message he gave the three is not to rush things as “things really take time.”

Dolorfino said that even with the dispatch of the three, the search and rescue operations of the military and the MILF in Lanao will continue, as well as that in Zamboanga Sibugay by a separate Army unit and a small contingent from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

“It’s wise to pursue all information… We can easily solve the problem if all stakeholders help each other,” Dolorfino said.

Bossi was about to officiate mass in Barangay Bulawan in Payao when he was snatched by 10 armed men. He has been a parish priest in Payao since April of this year, police said./DMS