Thursday, June 26, 2008 Speak out: Board and lodging By Lorenzo M. De la Serna Lapu-Lapu City
SOMETIME in 1989, Mark Lerner of Washington Post came to the Philippines to gather insights “from the horse’s mouth” about the Mindanao Independence Movement (MIM) and other separatist groups in that island.
I escorted him to the camps of Nur Misuari’s Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) in Maimbung, Sulu and Hashim Salamat’s Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Matanog, Maguindanao.
A very close friend, a Moro lawyer based in Iligan City, served as our guide.
At one moment, the lawyer whispered, “Maayo kini kay taga-newspaper sa America. Unsa man, kidnapon nato aron mabantog sa tibuok kalibutan ang atong kalihokan?”
I turned down his suggestion.
But as we were resting in a hotel in Jolo on our way back to the mainland, the lawyer again pulled me up and said, “Leave the American to me. I will hold him hostage here and announce the kidnap for ransom later.”
“Look,” I said, “only very recently did the government announce its no ransom policy. And it will take time before you get any reaction from Washington Post in America.”
“Don’t worry, I will not ask for ransom payment, I will only charge the government with ‘board and lodging.’”
That was the first time I heard of the phrase.
He explained, “Dako ang atong pangayoon nga ransom money, mga 10 million pesos. Mohangyo man ang government. Ang hinangyoan, board and lodging.”
When Mark was about to board a plane on his way home via Manila, I told him about the plan to kidnap him when we were in Sulu.
He smiled and thanked me for aborting it.
“On my way here,” he said, “I passed by Cuba and Argentina to visit the tomb of my close friend, Che Guevara. There never was any incident of kidnapping there.”
Then he pulled out from his bag a book titled “Che” and gave it to me saying, “Inscribed on his tomb and monument is Ernesto `Che’ Guevara y de la Serna.”
A couple of weeks after that, a group of nuns were kidnapped in Marawi City.
Reports said the abductors were “an armed group of the Mindanao Independence Movement.”
MIM Chairman Reuben R. Canoy and I rushed to Marawi and sought the assistance of then MNLF Lanao Sur commander Ali Solitario to confront the so-called “armed group of the MIM.”
The group explained that they only used the MIM, “aron kita makakwarta kay ipamalit natog dugang armas.” They were never officially recognized as MIM members.
“Pilay ransom inyong gipangayo?” I asked them.
“Dili ransom, board and lodging lang,” replied the young leader of the group.
How much government paid for the nuns’ board and lodging, they never told us.
