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October 23, 2009, GMA News, 6:21 PM, Brother of slain tribal leader tagged in Butuan kidnapping, by Ben Serrano,

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October 23, 2009, GMA News, 6:21 PM, Brother of slain tribal leader tagged in Butuan kidnapping, by Ben Serrano,

BUTUAN CITY - One of eight government workers abducted by gunmen at a watershed area here said on Friday their captors are led by the brother of a murdered Manobo tribal leader.

Forest Ranger Efren Sabuero identified the group's leader as Leandro "Andot" Behingyounger brother of Luzvimindo Behing, a town councilor in Sibagat, Agusan del Sur who was shot dead by unidentified assailants last July.

Police and military officials initially suspected that the victims, all workers of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), were seized by communist rebels or kidnap-for-ransom bandits.

On Thursday, however, Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman Lt. Col Romeo Brawner Jr. said the abductors were only demanding cancellation of the community-based forest management agreement (CBFMA) operating in the Sibagat area and the operations of the Integrated Forest Management Agreement.

Sabuero and Emiliano Gatillo were released by Behing’s group at the boundary of Kolambugan, Sibagat and Tagkiling villages in Butuan at about 5 p.m. Thursday.

Sabuero said all of the victims, including himself, were suffering from different ailments such as high blood pressure, arthritis and back pains.

He said he and Gatillano were released to get medicines for themselves and their colleagues, but the Crisis Management Committee formed to deal with the kidnapping case refused to let them go back.

According to Gatillano and Sabuero in an interview with GMANews.TV, their team leader, scaler Gabriel Arlan, suffered bruises, back pains and difficulty walking after he fell from the getaway vehicle of the kidnappers on the way to the armed men’s lair. 

“He (Arlan) accidentally fell from the vehicle on our way to the mountainous areas of Kolambugan, Sibagat, Agusan del Sur, the place where my six other colleagues are now still held captive," Sabuero said. 

“I am worried the kidnappers will harm my colleagues," he added.

The two men said among those still captive was forester Ildefonso Jayme, the project management officer of Cabulay and Tagkiling Community-based Forest Management Projects.

DENR Caraga regional officials have granted one of the six demands of the kidnappers by suspending the operation of three CBFMAs in Barangay Padi-ay in Sibagat. 

The suspended CBFMAs cover the Iligan Tribal Forest Development covering area of 2,639 hectares, Hampapalay Farmers Multi-Purpose Cooperative covering an area of 2,162 hectares and the Bagani Tribal Returnees Development Cooperative with an area of 1,204.58 hectares in Barangay Bartolinao also in Sibagat town.

Acting Regional Executive Director Edilderto Buiser said the other demands of the kidnappers include:

• cancellation of the permit of Merjourie Woodworks, a joint venture of Manila-based traders and local counterparts;

• abolition or removal of checkpoints from Barangay Senaka (Sibagat, Agusan del Sur side) to Barangay Anticala in Butuan; 

• share in the government’s P200-million Upland Development and Reforestation Project;

• awarding of some 3,000 cubic meters of confiscated logs of hardwood species to indigenous people; and 

• execution of a waiver by government to file kidnapping charges before any court of law. 

The group clarified that they did not seek ransom money, contrary to previous reports. - GMANews.TV

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