Zamboanga City (AsiaNews) - There is high alarm over kidnappings for foreign religious working in Zamboanga del Sur, in the southern Philippines. The religious have been threatened with kidnapping by some armed gangs and groups affiliated with Abu Sayyaf, the local al Qaeda cell.
Confirmation comes from Fr. Sebastiano d’Ambra, a missionary of the PIME and president of the movement for interreligious dialogue Sillasilah, who says that "some of our priests in Zamboanga del Sur work with some escorts," to protect themselves against kidnapping attempts.
The threat has also been highlighted by the Filipino army, which has reinforced security measures to protect the religious working in certain areas defined as critical. The missionary of the PIME appeals to the leaders of the local government, to put an end to the practice of kidnapping: "It is not enough to condemn. We have responsibility."
From Basilan, there is no news in the abduction of Merlie “Millet” Mendoza, still in the hands of kidnappers. Al-Rasheed Sakalahul, the deputy governor of Basilan and head of negotiations to obtain the release of the volunteer, says that he has entrusted members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) with the task of obtaining the woman's release. Meanwhile, there is no news concerning the kidnapping of Joed Anthony Pilanga, a nursing student at the Jesuit university of Zamboanga.
Merlie Mendoza'a family say that they have received a ransom request for one and a half million U.S. dollars, while the relatives of Pilanga say they have been asked for approximately 400,000 dollars.
Leaders of the MILF are calling upon members of the bishops and ulemas conference of Mindanao to "remain neutral" in the peace process in the region, despite the appeal issued by Filipino president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who is asking the religious leaders to participate actively in resolving the conflict. The Islamic rebels emphasize that the war in the province is not confessional in nature, but is a struggle for the population of Bangsamoro (in Tagalog, "the Moro nation"), which has the right to live in a free and autonomous manner in its own homeland.