December 10, 2003, Seattle Times / Chicago Tribune, Wave of holiday kidnappings targets Chinese in Philippines, by Uli Schmetzer,

December 10, 2003, Seattle Times / Chicago Tribune, Wave of holiday kidnappings targets Chinese in Philippines, by Uli Schmetzer, 

MANILA, Philippines — Eddy Tan, half-joking, keeps saying he is leaving for a long spell on Christmas Island in the Pacific to escape the holidays in the Philippines and what cynics have dubbed "The Chinese Takeaway."

The "takeaway" has nothing to do with a carryout order of sweet-and-sour pork, but refers to the annual wave of holiday-season kidnappings targeting the affluent local Chinese, known here as "Chinoys."

Tan, owner of a chain of hardware stores, said "enough is enough" after the 156th Chinoy kidnap victim this year was killed last month during a botched attempt. "I'm not sticking around until it's my turn," Tan said.

The kidnappings have been occurring in a country where by late October streets already are decorated with yuletide bunting, city walls glow with illuminated Christmas themes and "Silent Night," "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and other carols blare all day over loudspeakers in department stores, hotel lobbies and schools.

Amid this pre-Christmas spirit, taxi drivers, sidewalk vendors and hotel bellhops won't hand back any change. "It's for my Christmas, sir!" they'll argue.

Poverty often is blamed for the Christmas crime wave, particularly the kidnappings of the Chinese, an ethnic minority Filipinos generally regard as "the rich."

The ethnic Chinese make up about 3 percent of the country's population but possess at least half of its private wealth.

Betti Sy was 32 and finance director of Coca-Cola Export Corp. in Quezon City outside Manila. She refused to unlock her car doors when a gang of kidnappers surrounded her. So they shot her, stuffed her in a garbage bag and dumped the bag in a ditch. Police said during the 24 hours before the body was found that the kidnappers negotiated with her family for a $20,000 ransom, half the current rate.

Sy was No. 156 on the list of Chinoys abducted this year, a record number, according to police. Nearly half the victims have been snatched during the past few months as the economy further deteriorated and the Filipino peso plunged to a record low against the dollar. Most of the victims were returned safely after their families paid a ransom.

The Chinese say the figure of 156 is lower than the number really kidnapped because most Chinoys would rather quietly pay the ransom than report the crime to police.

Teresita Ang See, the high-profile spokeswoman for the Chinese community here, has often attributed the reluctance to Chinoys' suspicion that police officers and retired members of the military are actually part of the highly organized kidnap gangs.

Her favorite story is about the released hostage who walked into the police station to report his kidnapping but found one of his kidnappers comfortably seated in the chief inspector's chair. The Chinoy turned around and walked out of the station without saying a word. He packed his belongings and moved his family to Hong Kong.

Meantime, the Philippines have a presidential election scheduled for May and campaigning already is in full swing.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her advisers have argued the kidnapping spree may be intended to discredit her administration as "ineffective" in maintaining law and order. This would help the opposition obtain the large campaign contributions the Chinoy community usually doles out to candidates who pledge to crack down on the gangs.

Arroyo has lifted a moratorium on the death penalty following the kidnap-for-ransom cases this year. Shortly after Arroyo's announcement, the government clarified that capital punishment would be used only for convicted kidnappers. A Justice Department official said the first man to be executed would be a convicted kidnapper scheduled to die next month.

Arroyo imposed a moratorium on capital punishment after taking office in January 2001. Bringing back death by lethal injection was seen here as a concession by the president to avoid emigration by Chinese-Filipinos.

Five years ago, anti-Chinese riots broke out in Indonesia after the collapse of the lucrative relationship between President Suharto and Chinese-Indonesian entrepreneurs. The riots led to tens of thousands of ethnic Chinese sending their families and money abroad.

The loss of Chinese funds, coupled with the know-how of people who had practically run the Indonesian food chain, left the country in an economic and financial maelstrom from which it is still recovering. Like in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, an ethnic Chinese minority in Indonesia controlled a disproportionate slice of the economy — some 70 percent.

Presidential candidates and political parties inevitably seek the financial support of the Chinese community before every election by promising a crackdown on the kidnap gangs.

Filipinos, normally a compassionate people, rarely express much sympathy for the plight of their Chinese neighbors, whom they accuse of being more attached to their roots than to their adopted homeland.

"If more of the Chinese invested their money in this country instead of sending it to China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, this country would be a more progressive society and less prone to crime. The Chinese have never integrated properly or played a political role in the Philippines," argued Filipino novelist Francisco Sionil Jose.

Tan rejected that idea.

"If the Philippines was a stable country with proper law and order, we Chinoys would invest here. But we are businessmen," he said. "We put our money where it earns and where it's safe."