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Negotiators are returning to the mountains on a southern island
in the Philippines to try to free 57 people taken from a school by
armed tribesmen, officials said.
Tribesmen took the hostages from an elementary school and nearby
homes in Agusan del Sur province on the southern island of
Mindanao, less than three weeks after a massacre in a nearby
province in which 57 people were killed.
The abductions and last month's massacre threw an unwelcome
spotlight on the Southeast Asian nation and raised tensions ahead
of presidential elections next year.
"I am going back to the mountains to convince the armed men to
release their hostages unharmed," Josefina Bajade, a provincial
social worker who heads of a team of negotiators, told
reporters.
"We sent food to the hostages early today and we were assured they
will not be touched. We're optimistic we can resolve this problem
by today."
Bajade said the armed men, who belong to an indigenous tribe called Manobos, have demanded that murder cases against them be dropped.
They have also asked police to disarm their rivals from the same tribe.
Clan wars, known locally as rido, are common in communities in
the south.
Soldiers and police officers have been sent to the mountains to
limit the movements of the armed men and their captives, said
Nestor Fajura, a regional police operations chief.
"We're exhausting all peaceful means to end this crisis," Fajura
told reporters.
The abductors freed 18 hostages, including 17 children, on
Thursday.
Last month, 57 people, including 30 journalists, were killed after
they were stopped at a checkpoint in Maguindanao province, also in
the south of the country, while on their way to file a candidate's
nomination for elections next year.
The mass killings led to a crackdown in the generally lawless
southern Philippines and the imposition of martial law in
Maguindanao last week.
