By all standards, kidnapping is a heinous crime against humanity.

The recent abduction of Fr. Michael Sinnott of the Columban Fathers, once again, has accented the terror that the peoples of the Southern Philippines face daily.

No one is exempted and all religions condemn the crime. Why kidnapping pays and goes on with impunity is a mystery to all.

Yet, people believe that the crime is perpetrated by few people who continue to elude the law for years.

There are places in Southern Philippines that are prone to kidnapping. These places are identified.

Foreigners are not allowed to visit them and their respective embassies give them appropriate advisory.

Foreign missionaries are often told of this danger and the real possibility of kidnapping. Yet, their faith and their ‘mandate’ hold strong that their presence continues notwithstanding the danger.

With the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, I have, since 1996, counseled our major superior to pull out foreign missionaries from those identified places and assign them in relatively ‘safe’ places. Local missionaries are not exempt from kidnapping.

Who are the perpetrators of this crime?
They bear many and different names. The labels are a plenty. They identify them as ‘al Qaeda or Abu Sayyaf Groups (ASG) or Jama'a Islamiyya (JI) or Pentagon groups, etc.

They are, perhaps, few in number but the government's continued failure to stop kidnapping make people ask the hard question whether there are collusions between some government law enforces and lawless elements or between the kidnappers and the liberation fronts.

To cite some examples, many believe that the leaders of the latest kidnapping of the ICRC are (or were one time) so-called 'assets' of the very people in charge of security and law enforcement in the area.

The government keeps declaring an all-out war against these lawless elements and keep claiming that their numbers are decimated yet kidnapping continues with impunity.

Since 1996, the government has estimated their numbers to be below 500. The all-out war against these criminals has been going on since 1996.

And there is no relief in sight.

The government appears impotent; the liberations fronts are mum about it; and the government security forces make bold claims with no results.

No doubt, kidnapping, killing and other lawlessness directly affect the Christian-Muslim relations, especially in building an atmosphere of trust which is the glue for any social cohesion required for any peace agreement in Southern Philippines.

The ordinary Muslims and Christians are against this lawlessness. They cannot understand why these crimes continue with impunity.

Both the Muslim and Christian inhabitants dream and aspire for a community without these crimes. The tragedy is when religion is cited as a reason for these crimes. No one shall kill or kidnap in the name of God!

These crimes are perpetrated by a few people and by people with agenda whether political or economic.

In times of crisis, kidnapping is a lucrative business. The going price for release of the kidnapped victims goes from one million to P15 million for the locals and one to five million US dollars for foreigners (meaning Caucasian).

People fear that as Election Day nears (May 2010), kidnapping can be lucrative source of campaign chess for some unscrupulous candidates.

Why some of the leaders of kidnapping become assets?

It is claimed that they become ‘informants’ for the so called international terrorists – peoples identified with the likes of al Qaeda or JI. This is one of the ‘accidental’ fruits of the big bounty placed by US government on the heads of the so called foreign terrorists. They become ‘assets’ with the objective of bagging the big bounty.

With payments of five million dollars or ten million dollars, who would not be tempted?

In the Southern Philippines, missionaries are open targets and foreign missionaries are more targets than their local counterparts.

The Oblates of Mary Immaculate who are assigned in Cotabato, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi have an ample share of martyrs in the last ten years in the Archipelago of Sulu.

Bishop Benjamin de Jesus was shot in front of the Jolo Cathedral in February 1998; Fr. Benjamin Innocencio was shot at the back of the Jolo Cathedral on Dec. 28, 2000, Fr. Reynaldo Roda, OMI was brutally murdered in Tabawan, Tawi-Tawi on January 14, 2008.

The Claretian Fathers has one martyr, Fr. Rhoel, in Basilan. The Italian Missionaries (PIME) has several missionaries kidnapped with Fr. Bossi being the last one (hopefully).

Fr. Michael Sinnott is the 3rd among the Columbans. The first attempt was with Fr. Rufus who resisted his kidnappers and shot in Malabang, Lanao del Sur. And the third one was the former Prelate of Marawi, Fr. Desmond Hartford.

The kidnapping will continue until the government and the liberation fronts decide, with seriousness and determination, to put an end to this tragic phenomenon.

I also believe that the government and the liberation fronts (MNLF and MILF) have the wherewithal to put an end to this crime and other lawlessness in Mindanao.

A no-nonsense LGU in place is a strong deterrence to kidnapping.

Here I will cite the case of the once notorious places of Buldon, Barira, and Matanog.

With strong and determined LGUs in place and with the help of both the government forces and the Liberations Fronts, peace has been established.

The three LGUs have also established a Council of Religious Leaders to mediate the family and clan feuds (rido) that often disturb the peace.

For quite sometime now, there has been no report of kidnapping in these areas. This only shows that kidnapping can be stopped!