President-elect Rodrigo Duterte (left) with incoming Presidential chief legal counsel Atty. Salvador Panelo. Panelo was previously named as the Presidential spokesman. (davaotoday.com file photo by Ace Morandante)
DAVAO CITY — After the beheading of the second Canadian hostage by the Abu Sayyaf Group in Sulu on Monday, incoming Presidential legal counsel Atty. Salvador Panelo said President-elect Rodrigo Duterte will deal with all lawless elements including the ASG, but will clearly uphold the “no ransom policy” of the government on kidnapping.
”President-elect Duterte will solve problem on criminality and illegality – that is his commitment, to suppress all these,” Panelo said in a news by the Philippine News Agency.
Robert Hall was beheaded after the deadline to pay the ransom demand of P300 million lapsed on Monday. Last April 25, Canadian national John Ridsdel was also beheaded by the ASG.
“He will solve the problem and other problems of equal magnitude and I don’t see any problem knowing him.. marami siyang style hindi natin alam (he has many style we do not know) but very effective,” he said.
Panelo, however, said the beheading of Robert Hall, the second Canadian killed by the ASG reportedly to taunt Duterte, must be addressed to the current administration of President Benigno Aquino because Duterte is not yet president.
“If they do that during the administration of Duterte, then that could be a challenge to him but not now,” he said.
Panelo also said that he has not discussed with Duterte his stand on Hall’s beheading and whether Duterte is willing to help to save the remaining hostages.
The two Canadian nationals were among the four people abducted from Holiday Ocean View Samal Resort in Camudmud, Babak District, Island Garden City of Samal around 11:30 p.m. on September 21, 2015. Still held hostage by the ASG are Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad, and Hall’s Filipina girlfriend Marites Flor.
Meanwhile, Governor Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) also condemned the beheading of Hall which occurred barely a week after Ramadan began.
“Their betrayal of Islam knows no bounds that even in the most holy days of Ramadan, they turn a time meant for prayers and contemplation into days of fear and horror,” he said.
“The refuge and shelter we share as Muslims has become strange place for others. Extremists claim to follow the faith, while they go against Islam’s message of peace and humanity,” Hataman said.
“This is not what Islam stands for, and we refuse to let this turn us against our fellow Filipinos – not at a time when Ramadan teaches us sympathy, compassion, and love,” he added.(davaotoday.com)
