Press Release
May 28, 2009

Gordon hopeful that Vagni's release will come soon after teachers' release

Senator Richard J. Gordon today expressed hope that Eugenio Vagni, the abducted International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) worker, will also be freed soon after the Abu Sayyaf released three teachers abducted in January this year in Zamboanga City after being held captive for four months.

Gordon, chairman of the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC), said he is also hopeful that the release of the three abductees heralds the end of the vicious cycle of kidnapping that the Abu Sayyaf has perpetrated for more than a decade.

"The release of the three teachers after four months of captivity is a very welcome development. I hope this is an end to the abductions and beheadings committed by the Abu Sayyaf," he said.

"But we are very concerned about Vagni because sa mga nangyayari ngayon na in-ambush yung chief of police, namatay, inambush si Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan, may napugutan ng ulo. Nakikiusap ulit kami sa mga yan na isauli na siya sa amin," he added.

The Abu Sayyaf released unharmed last Tuesday three school teachers - Quizon Freires, 28, Janette Delos Reyes, 29, and Rafael Mayonado, 24 - after four months of captivity. They were turned over to a former mayor in Mohamad Ajul town in Basilan.

The three were abducted on Jan. 23 by members of the Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim bandit group blamed for a series of kidnappings for ransom of Christians and foreigners.

It was not known if a ransom was paid for the three teachers. The kidnappers had threatened to behead them if a ransom of P3 million was not paid. Earlier this month, the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan beheaded a retired Christian carpenter abducted two months ago after his family failed to pay a ransom.

Another group of Abu Sayyaf terrorists continue to hold Vagni, an Italian, in Jolo, where they kidnapped him in January. Two other ICRC workers - Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba and Swiss Andreas Notter - abducted with Vagni have since been freed.

The Abu Sayyaf was founded in the 1990s, ostensibly to fight for an independent Islamic state in the southern Philippines . Intelligence agencies say they have links to the Al Qaida terror network.

Gordon, also a governing board member of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, opined that the Abu Sayyaf Group appears to have been divided into two groups - one that wants amnesty and the other to cling to their ideologies.

"I think hati sila, merong gustong kumita, may gusto ng amnesty. Yung iba Abu, yung iba Sayyaf. Yung Abu, matatanda, tama na to, mag-kuwan na tayo, yung Sayyaf, espada pa din. Gusto nila respetuhin sila. Yan ang aking kuru-kuro," he said.

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