THE HUNT FOR THE PENTAGON

In the past two years, joint police-military operations against the Pentagon — which at first seemed like an obscure kidnap-for-ransom gang but which is now operating with impunity in Central Mindanao — have had little gains.

The notorious gang continues to spread its wings in the South. Worse, its key leaders, led by the elusive Tahir Alonto who has a P5-million prize on his head, remain at large.

Some of them are reportedly holding out in areas covered by the ceasefire between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Faisal Marohombsar, founder of the Pentagon, is gone, but his death in an encounter with policemen in Cavite last year has only fragmented his followers into smaller groups now operating independently in Central Mindanao and nearby regions.

Marohombsar, along with a dozen cohorts, organized the Pentagon in a two-day clandestine meeting at a roadside hotel in Digos City in April 2001.

Last February, the military liberated the once impregnable Buliok complex at the boundary of Pikit, North Cotabato and Pagalungan, Maguindanao, from what it described as its "joint occupation" by the MILF and the Pentagon.

The Philippine flag now flies victoriously over the 3,000-hectare Buliok complex, but threats of kidnappings remain.

Pursuit

For peace advocates in the South, last week’s hostilities between soldiers pursuing the captors of a car trader and MILF rebels at the boundary of Maguindanao’s Talayan and Datu Piang towns only showed how the ceasefire has been unduly holding "hostage" the government’s anti-kidnapping efforts in areas where separatist forces are present.

The kidnap victim, 24-year-old Norman Sia, who was snatched by three men while road-testing a car he was selling them, is still nowhere to be found.

The cost of the search for Sia has been too high. MILF rebels killed five soldiers, captured four others (who were later released after backdoor negotiations), crippled a military Simba combat vehicle and nearly shot down a UH-IH helicopter that provided cover for the advancing government forces.

Last October, elements of the Army’s 12th Intelligence Service Unit, under Maj. Joel de la Torre, captured Dario Quiam, alias Aking, the "right-hand man" of Alonto, in General Santos City.

Soon after, seven more henchmen of Alonto fell into the hands of the anti-kidnapping units of the Army’s 6th Infantry Division and the 601st and 301st Infantry Brigades.

As if taunting the government, smaller gangs of the Pentagon pulled off several kidnappings after the arrests of their leaders, apparently to show that the syndicate could not be neutralized easily.

One of the gangs snatched three bodyguards of a wealthy Filipino-American trader in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat last October.

The captives, held at the Liguasan Marsh, a 220,000-hectare delta at the boundary of Sultan Kudarat and Maguindanao, later managed to escape, dashing to their freedom while their guards were asleep.

In the succeeding weeks, if not for the prompt response of the 301st IB, the local police and civilian volunteers, another Pentagon gang could have succeeded in seizing a hardware store owner in Sultan Kudarat’s Esperanza town, not far away from Isulan.

‘Cottage Industry’

A rash of kidnappings, which Central Mindanao folk now regard as a "cottage industry," is feared to take place in the run-up to the May 2004 elections.

"This has been the pattern. Kidnappings intensify during the election period. The government must dig deeper into this very puzzling pattern," said a source in the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

In an unprecedented move, Cotabato City’s Islamic community has issued a fatwah (judgment), excommunicating Sia’s captors and urging "true Muslims" to "neutralize them at will" if they spot them in their communities.

For Antonio Santos, owner of a Cotabato City hotel and a key member of the Mindanao chapter of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, kidnappings, more than the secessionist problem, threaten Central Mindanao’s economy.

"This is because businessmen in other parts of the Philippines and in Southeast Asia are aware of the ongoing peace negotiations between our government and the MILF and that everything is being done to peacefully resolve the problem," he said.

Army and police intelligence sources said they have "unimpeachable proof" that certain MILF commanders have been coddling lawless gangs identified with the Pentagon.

The MILF has challenged authorities to name these commanders and pinpoint the lairs of the kidnappers they connive with so it can help run after them.

Low-Level Pact

For the rebel front, an "honest-to-goodness" implementation of a low-level agreement on mutual cooperation in addressing security problems and criminality in ceasefire-covered areas, forged in Malaysia in May 2001, would bolster efforts to address the kidnapping problem in Central Mindanao.

The MILF said any intrusion by the government’s anti-kidnapping elements into known MILF enclaves without "prior coordination" would only trigger hostilities that could endanger the peace talks.

Reports have been circulating in Central Mindanao lately that the Pentagon has linked up with the Jemaah Islamiyah, an Indonesian-based terror network, and the extremist Abu Sayyaf.

Besides kidnappings, the Pentagon is also engaged in extortion and car theft. Its so-called Dragon Gang, Urban Lions Squad and Suicide Bombers Team have owned up to recent bombings of business establishments and buses in Central Mindanao.

With the continuing threats from the Pentagon, Central Mindanao’s peace-loving folk wonder why, despite the government’s efforts, the syndicate keeps growing and more people are joining its ranks each day.