The government is exerting its best effort to ensure the safe release of the foreign hostages – a Malaysian and two Indonesian fishermen – held by the Abu Sayyaf Group without paying ransom, Malacañang said yesterday.
Presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo explained that the government would not pay any ransom since it would only embolden the group to acquire weapons and commit atrocities.
“We are doing our best to secure the release of hostages from the evil hands of the Abu Sayyaf Group but we stand firm on our no ransom policy,” Panelo said.
“To give in to the demands of terrorists and other lawless groups would embolden them to engage in more abductions that would allow them to conduct extremist and other criminal activities as they could buy more arms and weapons,”
he added.
Panelo said President Duterte has earlier directed government troops to “crush” the ASG, notorious for its kidnap-for-ransom and killings in the South.
“The ASG continues to be on the run as a result of the order of the President to the military to crush them. Our security forces are hunting them in the wild forests of Mindanao to unleash their might and blow them to kingdom come,” Panelo said.
The ASG has reportedly threatened to behead the hostages if ransom is not paid for their release.
A video showing an Indonesian hostage appealing to his government to secure his freedom was reportedly surfaced on social media.
The fishermen were reportedly abducted by the Abu Sayyaf militants while on fishing expedition in eastern Sabah waters last December. (Genalyn Kabiling)