Paying ransom to radical Islamic groups such as the Abu Sayyaf, which survives largely due to funds from kidnappings and other acts of banditry, should be declared a crime to cut off a key terrorist lifeline, a police official said Tuesday. The government should also proscribe the al-Qaida-linked Abu Sayyaf and similar groups as terrorist organizations under the country's anti-terrorism law to make any financial support to them a criminal act, police Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Mendoza said.Kidnappings for ransom and extortion, along with funds from foreign terrorist allies have allowed the Abu Sayyaf to survive and finance deadly bomb attacks and other atrocities for years. Between 1992 and last year, Abu Sayyaf collected an estimated US$31 million (1.4 billion pesos) from ransom payments and an unspecified amount from extortion, said Mendoza, a prominent officer who has made extensive studies on al-Qaida-linked militants in the Philippines. 'Ransom payment must be criminalized and penalized to deter similar actions in the future,' Mendoza told a Manila conference on countering terror financing. He said negotiations should be the main mode of seeking the release of hostages.
The Philippines passed an anti-terrorism law only last year that enables the government to create a blacklist of terrorist organizations. The government opposes ransom payment in kidnapping cases but no specific law exists criminalizing it.
Abu Sayyaf militants have also raised funds by collecting small amounts of cash from rural communities and Filipino Muslim workers in the Middle East, misrepresenting the money as 'zakat' -- obligatory contributions given by Muslims for the poor and the propagation of Islam, according to Mendoza, who is based in Manila.