EDITORIAL - Kidnapping haven

The military kept denying the story  until Indonesia’s foreign minister announced in Jakarta last week that seven of their citizens had been snatched from a tugboat and taken to Sulu.

The seven, part of a crew of 13, were the latest Indonesian captives following the 14 snatched from other tugboats in March and April this year by the Abu Sayyaf. The tugboats carry coal to Mindanao and the Visayas, which import from 70 to 90 percent of their coal requirements for power generation from Indonesia.

Following the April kidnapping, two Indonesian coal ports had suspended shipments to Mindanao. This time Jakarta has expanded the shipment ban until the Philippines can guarantee a degree of safety for Indonesian tugboats plying the waters around Sulu.

Philippine authorities have tried to downplay the development, saying coal can be sourced from other countries such as Russia. Indonesia, however, remains the source nearest to the Philippines. Buying from countries farther away will surely increase logistics cost, which are likely to be passed on to power consumers. With several power transmission towers bombed by New People’s Army extortionists and unrepaired due to right-of-way issues, Mindanao has enough problems with its electricity supply, inadequate as it is.

Several things can be done, apart from the obvious, which is for the Philippines to beef up its maritime patrols especially in areas notorious for piracy. One is for the country to boost cooperation with Indonesia and Malaysia in fighting piracy and other illegal maritime activities such as smuggling and poaching.

Another is for both Indonesia and the Philippines to seriously abide by their avowed no-ransom policy, which is meant to discourage further kidnappings. The only excuse for handing over ransom is to ensure the safe release of hostages before operations are launched to recover the payment and nail down the kidnappers. In the case of the Abu Sayyaf, however, there has been no report of any ransom ever recovered.

The long-term answer, and the most difficult challenge, is to improve the quality of life in the impoverished communities of Sulu and Basilan, which have long served as hotbeds for banditry and extremist violence. As long as kidnapping is seen as the most profitable industry in Sulu, there will be no end to this pestilence.