Actor, local leader try to enter hostage talks

Jolo/Zamboanga: An actor and a former Muslim rebel leader-turned local government official expressed their desire to negotiate with kidnappers who took hostage three aid workers in Sulu and three teachers in Zamboanga in the southern Philippines.

Nur Misuari, chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and former governor of the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao, said he will seek a lower regional trial court's permission to negotiate with the kidnappers. Swiss Andreas Notter, 38, Italian Eugenio Vagni, 62, and Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba, 37, who work with the International Committee of the Red Cross, were taken hostage from Jolo on January 15.

Misuari also promised to work for the release of three teachers - Janette de los Reyes, Quizon Freires and Raphael Mayonada who were kidnapped off Sacol, Zamboanga, last week.

Misuari is out on bail after his imprisonment in 2001 over his renewed armed struggle in Jolo in 2000.

Meanwhile, popular movie star and convert to Islam Robin Padilla arrived in Zamboanga City on Tuesday to coordinate with the authorities attempts for the release of the three teachers, a source told Gulf News yesterday.

Padilla, also known as Abdul Aziz, proceeded to Lamitan City aboard a boat that from Lantaka Hotel, the source said, adding he was accompanied by several bodyguards.

Padilla joined government negotiators for the release of teachers, students and a priest who were kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf group in Tumahubong, Sumisip of Basilan in 2000. The negotiation, however, failed and the priest was killed.

Zamboanga Mayor Celso Lobregat ordered the police and the military to provide security to all residents in the southern island.

Social Welfare and Development (CSWD) officer Francisco Barredo said his office has been providing food assistance to the families of the kidnapped school teachers in Zamboanga.

Governor Abdul Sakur Tan of Jolo called for tighter security in his jurisdiction to prevent more incidents of hostage taking.

Government checkpoints were established in areas identified as the place where the kidnappers took the ICRC aid workers in Jolo. Security was tightened in a area thought to be where the kidnapped teachers are kept.