“I AM GOING TO BASILAN!” for almost two months now this tiny island in Western Mindanao area has been in the center of the news. This is where the Abu Sayyap Group (ASG), local terrorists group affiliated with the Al Quida Movement is based. More troops from the Philippine Army together with a small contingent of the US forces in the island has been running after the ASG. My scheduled trip to trip to Basilan was planned months before the war started.
Considered as one of the less populated provinces with a multi-ethnic population of around 300,000, Basilan is teeming with natural resources, business and employment opportunities. The island province, in fact, is one case of a company province with most of its population deriving income as employed agricultural workers.
The boat (fast craft) left around 6:45 AM from Zamboanga City to Isabela, Basilan which will take us around one (1) hour depending on the sea current. So many journalists and military men were also on board. As a missionary for many years now, I still hate boat rides. But this time the sea was calm and we really had a nice trip. While traveling to Basilan, I had the chance to chat with foreign journalists from BBC. One familiar face was BBC newscaster Veronica Pedrosa, who use to be with ABS-CBN then moved to CNN and now with BBC. I said hello to her and she was quick enough to give me a smile. I told her that I have seen her on BBC news. Right away, I asked her if she was scared going to Basilan. She was quick to reply, “It is part of my job”. That was the start of our short conversation but before I knew it we were almost docking at Isabela pier. Finally, I said to her “Take care & God bless”.
Watching over the island as we dock, I clearly remember that this was the place where Kumander Robot, the leader of the notorious Abu Sayyap Group (ASG) grew up. Kumander Robot was responsible for the kidnapped of New Tribes Mission missionaries Martin & Gracia Burnhams many years ago and later killed by the Philippine navy seals together with the US navy seals during an encounter at sea.
Because our meeting did not start yet, I went to have a short walk around the streets of Isabela. I still remember the horrible stories mentioned to me by some local folks regarding local businessmen being kidnapped by the ASG for money. By the way, it's becoming a business in this tiny island where they will kidnapped wealthy businessmen for money.
I went back to our meeting place just in time for our service to start. I was so blessed to see my old friends in the island. Pastora Virgie, our contact shared to us the conditions of the churches up in the mountains affected by the ongoing war between the military and the ASG. I just don't have the space and time to share with you but most of them are horrible.
We left the island right after our meeting, again it was time for me to say my goodbyes to my friends in Basilan. I promised to continue to pray for them. Hope to see them again in the future if not definitely in Heaven.
