Kidnapping in the Philippines No more ransoms

摘要

Just when President Gloria Arroyo was looking forward to a spell of relative peace and quiet in which to concentrate on reinvigorating the Philippines' sluggish economy, kidnappers from the notorious Abu Sayyaf group struck again. On May 27th they abducted 20 people, including three Americans, from a holiday resort on the western island of Palawan. Although the hostage-takers made no immediate demands, the government suspects that they simply want money. It dismisses the Abu Sayyaf' s assertion that it is fighting for independence for the Muslim minority in this predominantly Christian country.