DATE=10/2/2000
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-47099
TITLE=PHILIPPINES - REBEL ECONOMY
DATELINE=ZAMBOANGA CITY, THE PHILIPPINES
BYLINE=ALISHA RYU
VOICED AT=
CONTENT=
INTRO: The mainly-Muslim southern Philippine province of Sulu is one of the poorest regions in the Philippine archipelago. It is also the stronghold of the Abu Sayyaf Muslim rebels, who had been conducting lucrative kidnapping-for-ransom operations in the area for months. The Philippine military arrived on Jolo Island more than two-weeks ago (September 16th) determined to rescue 17-hostages and destroy the rebel group. V-O-A's Alisha Ryu recently visited Zamboanga, the nearest city to Jolo, on Mindanao Island to see how the rebels, and the ransoms paid to them, have been affecting the lives of people living under the shadow of the Abu Sayyaf.
TEXT: /// OPEN UP FOR SOUND OF TRAFFIC EST. AND FADE UNDER ///
Aside from harrowing taxi rides through a sea of smoke-belching cars, buses, and motorized tricycles, there is little to see or do in Zamboanga City. Nearly 400-thousand people live in this port town on the southern tip of Mindanao Island. But like most people in the Sulu region, many exist just above or beneath the poverty line, eking out a living harvesting seaweed or tending to visitors who come through on their way to other cities.
Zamboanga also serves as a financial base for Jolo Island - 110-kilometers away - where government troops are currently locked in running battles with the Muslim Abu Sayyaf rebels. Zamboanga resident and journalist Roel Pareno says that the military's nearly three-week-old operation against the group and its naval blockade of Jolo are keeping badly-needed funds out of the city.
/// FIRST PARENO ACT ///
The president of the bankers' association in Zamboanga City says banks are losing three-million to five-million (pesos) a week due to the on-going military offensive. Because of the cancellation of trips between Zamboanga and Sulu, businessmen are stranded and fail to make deposits in banks in this city.
/// END ACT ///
/// OPEN UP FOR SOUND OF CHILDREN PLAYING EST. AND FADE UNDER ///
Despite the happy shouts of children playing, the mood in Zamboanga these days is somber. The seaweed harvesting goes on but the tourism many depend upon for income is gone. Hotels sit mostly empty save for a handful of journalists who have been in town to cover the conflict in Jolo.
The government launched the military strike on September 16th after the Abu Sayyaf pulled off a string of successful kidnappings. Manila was embarrassed by how quickly the Abu Sayyaf turned itself from a small band of armed thugs into a kidnapping cartel.
In April, the rebels abducted 21 mostly foreign tourists from a Malaysian diving resort and took them by speedboat to Jolo. Most of the hostages were released during the next five months in exchange for 15-million dollars in ransom, mainly from Libya. The Abu Sayyaf then took new hostages - including two French journalists, an American, and three Malaysians - from another Malaysian diving resort.
No one in Zamboanga is quite sure what the Abu Sayyaf has done with all of the ransom money. But everyone has heard stories about what the rebels have bought with it so far: bazookas, mortars, and automatic weapons, a brand new speedboat capable of outrunning the Philippine Navy's patrol boats, motorcycles for joy-riding, and expensive jewelry.
Roel Pareno says the rebels are thought to have left much of the remaining cash with their relatives for safekeeping before fleeing into the hills to avoid government troops. Whatever has been done with the money, Mr. Pareno says much of it is being exchanged for Philippine pesos in Jolo. A black market in currency is doing brisk business on the island.
/// SECOND PARENO ACT ///
The black marketeers are buying the dollars secretly. They are buying dollars at 30-pesos per dollar and the official exchange rate of the dollar is 45 to 46.
/// END ACT ///
But black market currency traders appear to be the only ones making a profit from the Abu Sayyaf. Most merchants in Zamboanga shake their heads when asked if they have been able to do business with the Abu Sayyaf. They say they have not seen a penny of the money because they do not sell the high-end luxury products the rebels want. They speculate the rebels have gotten their jewelry, boats, and motorcycles from dealers in Malaysia through black-market contacts in Zamboanga.
The money apparently is not filtering through the economy in Jolo either. The military has cut off access and most communication links to the island, making it difficult to get an exact picture. But the news reaching Zamboanga from refugees from Jolo is grim.
Because of the fighting, those who have made money from the Abu Sayyaf have taken it and left. Those who are too poor to leave are not venturing outside to open their shops. Even fishermen reportedly have stopped fishing. They say they are afraid the military might mistake them for Abu Sayyaf members trying to flee. Even worse, they say they are afraid to have their boats seized by the rebels.
Alex Magno - of the University of Philippines says there is a good chance that many people in Jolo could go hungry in the coming weeks as the supply of basic goods dries up.
/// MAGNO ACT ///
We actually have a bizarre situation on the island of Jolo. You have a very, very poor economy with lots and lots of hard currency in the hills. It is surreal.
/// END ACT ///
The Abu Sayyaf says it intended to use the ransom money to help develop the Sulu region where aid is desperately needed. While there is no doubt that the rebels have been generous to themselves, friends, and relatives, the majority of the people in Sulu appear to be poorer now than they have ever been. (SIGNED)
NEB/HK/AR/JO/RAE
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