Philippines: abducted Christians used as 'bargaining chips'
Tuesday, May 30, 2017
By: Joop Koopman
Jihadism is on the rise in the in the country.
By Marta Petrosillo
NEW
YORK—“I hope the government will act wisely and prudently
in order to avoid a bloodbath.” The words are those of PIME missionary Father
Sebastiano D’Ambra, who is referring in particular to the abduction of Father
Teresito Soganub, together with 15 other Christians, in the last few days in
the city of Marawi, on the island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines.
Just
a week ago Islamic jihadist extremists of the so-called Maute group seized
control of the town. The dramatic clashes between Islamist rebels and the
Filipino army have so far claimed some 100 lives and there are reports of
barbarous killings and beheadings by the Islamist group.
In
a telephone interview with international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in
Need, Father D’Ambra explained how the Islamist terrorists had abducted the
Christians and set fire to the cathedral. “Probably, their intention is to use
the captives as bargaining chips in order to persuade the army to withdraw,” he
said.
The
Maute group is affiliated with ISIS, to which it has pledged allegiance, the
reason why it is now flying the black ISIS flag in the overwhelmingly Muslim
city of Marawi. It is now becoming clear that members of the Islamist terror
group Abu Sayyaf were also involved in this most recent attack.
Jihadism
is on the rise in the in the country. Militants have succeeded in attracting new
recruits, partly through ideology but also through the promise of lavish
rewards. Father D’Ambra also mentioned “international interests that are
seeking to destabilize this region. There appears to be a plan, which will
continue in the same direction. The situation in Marawi will calm down before too
long, but the terrorism will not stop.”
![Father Sebastiano D’Ambra, PIME.jpg.B.jpg](../images/content/pagebuilder/Father_Sebastiano_D_Ambra__PIME.jpg.B.jpg)
Radical
Islamic terrorism has a long history on the island of Mindanao. Already back in
the 1990s the Abu Sayyaf group was widely in action. The radicalization has
continued since then with the proliferation of Islamist movements of Wahhabi
inspiration, supported by Saudi Arabia. Also, for decade or so there has been a
strong and growing presence of the Islamist group Jemaah Islamiah, which
originated in Indonesia. And in the last three years ISIS has found increasing
support on Mindanao.
Just
as in Marawi, in Zamboanga City, on the western tip of Mindanao—where in 2013
the terrorist Islamist paramilitary group the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)
destroyed half the city—the government has also declared martial law. “The
authorities are calling on us to remain vigilant. There are many miles of coastline and numerous islands where the
extremists can easily hide,” said Father D’Ambra.
Father
D’Ambra himself has been living in the Philippines for 40 years and is the
founder of the Silsilah movement,
which has been striving since 1984 to promote interfaith dialogue. It has the
support of part of the local Muslim community. “Incidents like what has
happened in Marawi can only further aggravate a situation that is already
complicated enough and make still more difficult the promotion of
interreligious dialogue still more difficult,” he concluded.
Father
Sebastiano D’Ambra, PIME; ACN photo
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