ZAMBOANGA CITY: the southern Philippine region of Mindanao, despite its vast natural resources and beautiful and pristine beaches, remains to be a dangerous place.

With the spate of kidnappings and terrorism, the Philippines’ second largest island had been in the front pages of newspapers – in January, Abu Sayyaf militants kidnapped 3 members of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Sulu.

The trio – Swiss Andreas Notter, Italian Eugenio Vagni and Filipino Jean Lacaba — were seized near Patikul town. They were released months later one at a time and with suspicion that ransoms had been paid to the kidnappers.

A Sri Lankan peace worker, Umar Jaleel, a 36-year old staff member of Nonviolent Peaceforce, was also kidnapped in February in Basilan’s Lamitan City. He was freed several months later. His organization said Jaleel was a victim of the very violence that he has been trying to deter.

In March, the murder in March of the daughter of a senior communist guerrilla leader, Rebelyn Pitao allegedly by government soldiers in Davao City drew widespread protests from various civil organizations and human rights groups.

Pitao was abducted by gunmen in Davao City. The next day, her naked body was found in a creek in the town of Carmen in Davao del Sur province. Her hands were tied and mouth was bound with a packaging tape – she had stab wounds in her chest and was believed tortured and raped by her abductors. The young woman was the daughter of Leoncio Pitao, also known as Kumander Parago, a regional commander of the New People’s Army (NPA). Pitao’s family blamed the military for the killing.

In April, Sakur Tan, the governor of Sulu, declared a state of emergency in the province, to quell the growing threats of the Abu Sayyaf and to dismantle private armies maintained by warlords. It brought relief to villagers in the province and fears to political warlords and militant groups. The emergency rule was also intended to deal with the Abu Sayyaf militants who were holding hostage Red Cross workers.

Welcome relief

But despite the troubles and negative news brought about by fighting and terrorism in Mindanao, Filipinos also rejoiced – at least temporarily - the victory of boxing legend Manny Pacquiao over British pride Ricky Hatton in May. Streets in major cities were empty as residents watched the fight from their televisions in their homes and roadside restaurants. Pacquiao won the International Boxing Organization light welterweight title.

But the good news was also temporary. The governor of Sulu, Sakur Tan, who put his province under a state of emergency, survived an assassination attempt on his life by hired Abu Sayyaf militants also in May, but five of his escorts were injured in a roadside bombing outside his office.

The attack on the governor came barely a week after Abu Sayyaf militants ambushed and killed the police chief of Sulu, Julasirim Kasim, and four others in Indanan town.

It was also in May that a faction of the Abu Sayyaf had freed three teachers kidnapped in Zamboanga City after four months in captivity. The trio - Quizon Freires, 28; Janette Delos Reyes, 29; and Rafael Mayonado, 24 – were kidnapped at sea on January 23 while returning by boat from a break on Sacol Island in Zamboanga City. They were brought to Basilan province where kidnappers demanded ransom for their safe release.

Rebels help fight crime

In July, for the second time in seven years, the Philippines’ largest Muslim rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), ordered its 12,000-strong mujahideen to fight kidnapping-for-ransom activities in Mindanao. It also ordered rebel forces to arrest and take drastic actions against kidnappers in areas where the MILF is actively operating.

“The Central Committee of the MILF directs its freedom fighters comprising the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces to arrest and take drastic actions against the perpetrators of this heinous crime until these criminal activities are neutralized and stopped in MILF areas,” said an MILF order signed on Monday by the Front’s chief of staff, Sammy Al-Mansur. The order was signed by Ghazali Jaafar, the MILF’s vice chairman for political affairs.

In August, many Filipinos in Mindanao mourned the death of former President Corazon Aquino, whose "people power" revolution swept dictator Ferdinand Marcos from power in the Philippines. The 76-year old freedom icon Aquino was diagnosed with the disease in March 2008 but kept up public appearances this year

In September after visiting the Carmelite Sisters in Zamboanga City, Senator Benigno Aquino III announced his candidacy for the presidency in next year’s national polls. Aquino, son of former President Aquino and the assassinated former senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., made the announcement at the Club Filipino in San Juan City. Aquino went to Zamboanga City and met with his supporters and religious leaders to seek guidance whether to run or not in the presidential elections.

Two US Special Forces soldiers were killed in a roadside bombing later in Sulu province in September. The attack also wounded 5 more, including three Filipino marines.

US Special Forces have been deployed in Sulu since 2006, aiding the Philippine military in fighting the Abu Sayyaf. Although security officials deny US forces were directly involved in combat operations, there were numerous reports from civilians that American soldiers actually participated in the operations aimed at capturing or killing militant leaders in Sulu and other areas in the restive southern region of Mindanao.

More kidnappings

Gunmen in October also kidnapped an Irish missionary Fr Michael Sinnot, 79, in Pagadian City in the southern province of Zamboanga del Sur.

At least six gunmen seized the priest from his house and dragged him to a waiting get-away vehicle and fled toward the coastal area of Pagadian City. He was later freed in exchange for an unspecified amount of ransom.

Also in October, United States officials have met with top MILF leaders at a tightly guarded rebel base in Mindanao.

Leslie Bassett, US deputy ambassador to Manila, led senior American officials in a two-hour meeting with MILF chairman Murad Ebrahim in Maguindanao’s Sultan Kudarat town. Basset has assured Ebrahim of the US government’s support for the peace process in Mindanao. The MILF is currently negotiating peace with Manila in an effort to end the bloody fighting in the restive region.

Some 2,000 civilian volunteers also took their oath in November as members of a new police unit, which will help Philippine authorities protect villages from rebel attacks. The volunteers are under the supervision of the Philippine National Police and the mayors of the town where they are deployed as peace-keeping force.

But despite the new police auxiliary group, Abu Sayyaf gunmen in November beheaded a school principal they kidnapped in Sulu province after his family failed to pay ransom. The severed head of Gabriel Canizares was discovered in a bag left at a gas station in the capital town of Jolo. His killing drew widespread protests from various civil groups in Mindanao.

Mindanao and the Philippines as a whole got a respite in mid-November when boxing hero Manny Pacquiao defeated Puerto Rico’s Miguel Cotto in their 12-round WBO welterweight championship in Las Vegas, Nevada. Roads, which were typically busy and crowded during ordinary days, were empty as many residents across the archipelago watched the bout inside their houses, in restaurants and cinemas aired live via satellite.

Worst massacre

A week later, however, euphoria turned to mourning as the most shocking tragedy ever from Mindanao this decade came with the brutal killings of 57 people, at least 30 of them journalists who were abducted and shot at close range by more than 100 gunmen allegedly led by Datu Unsay town Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., the scion of a powerful political clan in Maguindanao province.

The gruesome killings later led to President Gloria Arroyo’s martial law declaration in Maguindanao and the arrest of many other clan members, including Andal’s father and namesake, who is the governor of Maguindanao; Zaldy Ampatuan, the governor of the Muslim autonomous region and several of his brothers accused of participating in the massacre.

As if the massacre were not enough, armed tribesmen abducted 125 villagers in Agusan del Sur in the northeastern part of Mindanao. The hostages were freed three days later after a tense negotiations with government functionaries.

In Basilan province, gunmen barged in the house of Orlando Fajardo, vice president of the Basilan State College, in Isabela City and took him away. The attack occurred just days after Abu Sayyaf militants beheaded one of their three hostages, Mark Singson, whose poor family failed to pay ransom demanded by his captors.

More than 100 gunmen also stormed the Basilan provincial jail and freed 31 hardened criminals, including suspected Abu Sayyaf militants and other rebels.

Progress must go on

Mindanao is not without positive news. One of these was the completion of the P251-million Jolo airport, which President Arroyo inaugurated this month. The United States Agency for International Development’s Growth with Equity in Mindanao granted most of the funding for the P251-million Jolo airport, with Manila pouring in some P90 million.

But more apparently needs to be done, The lack of income or livelihood opportunities in Mindanao is widely seen as the root cause of insurgency. Corruption in government is also a key factor in peace and order in many areas in Mindanao. For many Muslims in the southern Philippines, their aspiration for self-determination and for some the quest for freedom and democracy remain a dream.

Aside from being the second largest island in the Philippines, Mindanao is the eighth most populous in the world. Mindanao is surrounded by the Sulu Sea to the west; the Philippine Sea to the east and the Celebes Sea to the south. It is divided into six regions, which are further subdivided into 25 provinces. Mindanao was formerly under the rule of the Sultanate of Sulu and North Borneo.