Filipino village chief beheaded by Abu Sayyaf: military

By Hader Glang

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines

A village chief from the Philippines’ south who was among three hostages kidnapped in May has been beheaded by an al-Qaeda-linked militant group, according to the military Wednesday.

Navy Commander Roy Vincent Trinidad, Task Force Zambasulta chief, told local reporters Wednesday that the body of Rodolfo Buligao was recovered the previous evening in Labah village in Maimbung, Sulu province – a known Abu Sayyaf stronghold.

Trinidad said village authorities had conducted a search and found a head at around 10 p.m. (1400GMT) alongside a piece of paper with the words “Rodolfo E. Buligao, Brgy Chairman of Brgy Aliguay Island, Dapitan City.”

A video posted on Facebook in June had shown a blindfolded and shirtless Boligao, alongside two coast guard personnel abducted with him, pleading for help from local and national government officials.

It also featured eight armed men, whose faces were covered with scarves or hoods, threatening to behead them if a ransom demand of P1 million was not paid for each of the victims.

The three men were kidnapped May 4 at a beach resort in Buligao’s jurisdiction Aliguay Island, Dapitan City -- home to two high-end resorts frequented by foreign and domestic tourists.

The two coast guard personnel were reportedly visiting Buligao when Abu Sayyaf gunmen suddenly barged in and forcibly took them away in high-speed pumpboats.

Authorities had earlier said the initial target had been Chinese businessmen in Dipolog City, but the captors proceeded to Aliguay after police learned of their presence.

The Inquirer quoted Dr. Raden Ikbala of the Sulu Integrated Provincial Health Office as saying they examined the body and head found Tuesday and concluded that “they belonged to one person.”

“We have reattached the head and the cadaver will be shipped back to the [the Boligao] family in Dapitan,” he said.

The military said it was not certain about the fate of the other two hostages, and Trinidad cited a report by police in Sulu’s Maimbung town as saying Boligao had been beheaded after the Abu Sayyaf did not receive the ransom demanded from his family.

The beheading has been condemned as "an evil and cowardly act of terrorism" by the governor of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.

"We condemn this heartless and inhuman brutality committed by Abu Sayyaf, a group whose only desire is to sow terror among our people," Mujiv Hataman said in a statement.

"We offer our condolences to the family of Rodolfo Boligao, the recent victim of a heinous attack. For you we pray for courage and peace as we join your clamor for justice," Hataman added.

He called for the perpetrators to be hunted down and brought to justice, and such attacks to be stopped immediately.

Authorities believe the Abu Sayyaf is still holding several hostages in Sulu, including a mayor, a public school teacher, a mayor's grandson and a Dutch birdwatcher kidnapped in the nearby island province of Tawi-Tawi in 2012.

Kidnap-for-ransom gangs frequently operate in southern Zamboanga Peninsula and the provinces of Sulu, Basilan and Tawi-Tawi.

They are known to hand over their captives to the Abu Sayyaf and negotiate for a ransom that, if paid, is shared with the group.

The kidnappers use isolated sea-lanes and coastal areas to grab their victims, who are then held captive in isolated Muslim villages in the peninsula.

Since 1991, the Abu Sayyaf -- armed with mostly improvised explosive devices, mortars and automatic rifles -- has carried out bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and extortion in a self-determined fight for an independent Islamic province in the Philippines.

It is notorious for beheading victims after ransoms have failed to be paid for their release.