Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Manila (Agenzia Fides) – The people of South Philippines continue to await in prayer and hope for the release of Eugenio Vagni, the Red Cross worker who is still in the hands of band of kidnappers linked to the fundamentalist Islamic group “Aby Sayyaf.” Vagni is the last of the three volunteers of the International Red Cross Committee kidnapped on the island of Jolo, in South Philippines, this past January 15, as they exited a prison they had just inspected.
Vagni and the other Red Cross workers are the most recent victims in a long trail of violence and death. They arrived in Sulu in order to respond to the humanitarian crisis in the area, given that the conflict between the army and rebels (which has led to over 500,000 refugees) has continued. They were then taken hostages by a fundamentalist group that does not hesitate in using terrorism as a weapon and kidnapping for economic purposes, to finance their belligerent activity.
Yesterday, the Filipino army launched a blitz using their special forces to try and free the hostage, but with the passing of time, they realized that Vagni – now in precarious health conditions – had been handed over to a new band of rebels in the area, as was confirmed by Head Policeman Jesús Verzosa. The army continues approaching the area in the forest where members of the kidnappers' band are taking refuge, while armed conflict continues and, given the evolution of the situation, many fear for the life of the Italian volunteer.
The “Abu Sayyaf” (“God's Sword”) began in the Sulu Islands (southernmost part of the Philippines), and have been fine-tuning their guerrilla warfare techniques thanks to their contacts, both past and present, with other Islamic militant groups in the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Middle East. Their activity is inserted into the wider context of the “Islamic question” of South Philippines, where there are legitimate social and political demands of the Muslim minority (nearly 6 million people); and then there is also the government n Manila which, in recent decades, has offered real federalist concessions, creating an “autonomous region” for the Muslim community and trying to integrate the minority in to the social fabric of the country, however committing errors in the area of social/economic development. In this cultural and religious soil, beginning the 1970s groups like the Moro National Liberation Front and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, favorable for a fight for independence, arose in an effort to spread awareness over the ignored interests of the Filipino Islamic community. Along with the guerrilla movements (which over the years have fluctuated between armed resistance and peace talks), have arisen other more radical groups like “Abu Sayyaf,” which is on the official list of terrorist groups and continue to be active in the Sulu Islands, threatening mainly tourists, religious and missionaries, and representatives of NGOs, as well as foreign businessmen. (PA) (Agenzia Fides 23/4/2009)
