Another Mindanao State University (MSU) professor is kidnapped. This time in Lanao del Sur. Biology professor Sherwin Nacua, English professors Herbert Taberdo, Frank Amarillo and some 20 other faculty were on the way home from classes after 3 in the afternoon on board an ARMAC jeep from Marawi City en route to Iligan City , an hour away, when unidentified armed men  accosted the vehicle in Saguiaran, Lanao del Sur fifteen minutes away from the city.
The MSU-Main campus is within Muslim-dominated Marawi City, the capital of Lanao del Sur. More than fifty percent of its  student and faculty population are non-Muslims.

Witnesses said the passengers, mostly females and Visayans, jumped out the windows, fearing for their lives. Only Sherwin Nacua was taken aboard an FX vehicle said to be on the way to Piagapo town, a hilly undeveloped town, said to be a traditional hideaway for local kidnapping syndicates.

Philippine National Police Provincial Director Paniares Adap was in Piagapo Thursday evening, negotiating for Nacua’s release.

Silliman University graduate Sherwin Nacua, 45, had been teaching in the MSU-Main Campus for the past 24 years. Described as quiet, soft-spoken, sharp , diligent and sincere, Nacua was a former employee of the Aga Khan Museum.

Just last Sunday, another faculty from Jamiatul Muslim Integrated Foundation (JMIF),  Lolita Rodriguez, was kidnapped and released two days ago in Saguiaran town.

According to Provincial Government sources, the modus operandi of the Maranao kidnappers was to use networking,  passing the victims from one kidnapping group to another to leave no trail. “They are organized kidnap for ransom groups and are purely out to gain money,” said Governor Mamintal Adiong’s Chief of Staff Amenodin Macalandap. The victims are mostly non-Muslims, who are not residents of the province, one of the poorest in the country, populated by mostly Muslims.

Lanao del Sur is part of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which will undergo elections this August 11.

Nacua’s abduction is the third kidnapping incident this year but faculty members of MSU have been kidnapped in the past. Last March 29, Jung Tae-yung, a Korean businessman, and Victor Macasera Jr. had been abducted in the province. Yung was a mining investor interested in chromite potentials in Butuan City and Ditsaan Ramain , Lanao del Sur.

Macasera and Jung Tae-yung were released after 56 days in captivity due to  a concerted effort of negotiations by traditional leaders, local government units, intelligence group , PNP and military .

Local lawyer Bayan Balt condemned this “latest assault on the personal liberty of Prof. Nacua. This proves the incompetence of our local officials and the impotence of the police authorities to protect the people.”

One analyst blames the standstill in peace talks  to the rising criminality in ARMM. Just this morning,  some five employees of the Basilan Electric Cooperative (BASELCO) were abducted in Tuburan, Basilan. More than two weeks ago, a band of outlaws  held an ABS-CBN television news team and their university professor guide for nine days in the jungles of Talipao in Sulu province. Allegations that ransom was paid for their release was confirmed by police.