Kidnapping, the Fad that Never Goes Out of Style

Yet another kidnapping took place involving an expat. It is the second one in 4 weeks. The first was that of Gerfa Lunsmann of Campbell County, Virginia in the US. She is actually a Sama Tribesman (why is "man" proper English?) who was adopted at age 6 by American missionaries. Growing up in America she became a hospital administrator and married a half Finnish and half Japanese man. As an adult she searched for and reconnected with her family.

Very stupidly this woman had three palatial homes built on an island off of Zamboanga City on Mindanao's westcoast. One home was for her and her teenaged son and the others were for her family. Apparently she didn't remember much about life here. Those that are better off are responsible for the rest of the family. In my own case Rizza's family is rich so I don't have to do anything but normally it would involve spreading cash around quite liberally or risk a feud.

One day before she and her 14 year old son were to return home to Virginia they were abducted. Her clansman only packed 45 caliber pistols which is as close to retarded as it gets here. Even worse her 19 year old nephew Romnick Jakaria set up the kidnapping. The good thing was her age, 51, so rape won't factor in.

I remember in 2007 Rizza, I, her dad and a couple of her brothers went to Davao City. As we approached this one checkpoint I saw some things that didn't look right and took off the safety on my rifle, but kept it flat on the rear seat. I could have easily mistakenly killed a few soldiers that night but rather than have my wife raped and abducted I'd rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6 as the saying goes...

Then, this past Monday in Ipil in Zamboanga Sibugay Province a 34 year old Filipina was abducted. She met her Scottish boyfriend on Sandakan, an island just north of Borneo, belonging to Malaysia. He became an Ops Mgr on an oil rig off its coast after he left Aberdeen because of a failed marriage. The couple then stupidly decided to build this grand home. He started a sawmill and she opened a hair salon but flaunted her newfound wealth.

The mayor of Ipil personally warned her to tone it down or face the consequences but the dummy kept on bragging. She is relatively young and quite attractive so she is of course undergoing very unpleasant things.

I really don't know how people can be so stupid.

As for me, finally got end user certificates for 800 pieces. We are getting Daewoo automatic shotguns, beautiful piece. Looks a lot like the AR15s I originally planned on getting but a lot better in terms of its can-do. Here 5.56 rounds (for ARs and its mil version) cost us 74 US Cents per round. For 30 US Cents I can get shotgun rounds. Plus we can use incedinary and even better bolo rounds. Bolos are 2 metal balls connected with a cable and when they hit a body they tear through it like butter. I wanted AAs, which is like the creme de la creme of automatic shotguns, fires under water blah blah but at 1,200 US a pop wholesale it isn't a smart buy. They also look retarded. Here the image is more important than a lot of other features. The Daewoos are costing us 390 per unit which is very cheap. I am kicking in 5,000 for them , and will keep 12 for my own stock.

Other than that, keeping busy with my goats and am tempted to start raising carabao which are a Philippine breed of water buffalo, but am still thinking about divesting from Mindanao.

Joysa is good though haven't seen her since those few days just after returning from New York.

 

Is kidnapping big business over there or is it more of a 'I'll show you ya rich bastard' type of thing?

I don't think anyone will be coming anywhere near your estate with that type of weaponry. (I don't know a damn thing about guns but they sound pretty damn awesome)

Are carabao relatd to bison in any way? I had bison meat recently and I loved it!!!!!! (choose your answer carefully or I may just end up at your door with a fork, knife and bib :D)

What's up with not seeing Joysa? I hope everything is okay

 

Bison is a different beast, methinks. Probably closer to a yak than a buffalo.

I've never heard of bolo rounds, but I could just imagine the carnage that they'd produce. I understand that you're in the wild west as it were, but jeebus that's intense. Not making me too keen to come visit, that's for sure.

 

what we call bison is usually american buffalo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Bison

the meat is super lean and not all that gamey when you compare it to other "odd" meats. i really have no idea how that compares to carabao or yak or anything else tho.

rach, i can't fathom how you keep returning to the philippines. your tales make the area seem completely insane!

 

Kidnapping is a well entrenched industry here. To give an example, in Cotabato City the Vice Mayor is Muslimin Sema. He served as Mayor until reaching his 9 year term limit in 2010. In addition he is Chairman of the MNLF-EC15, one of the Islamo-fascist insurgent armies. On top of all that he is the top shot caller in a KFR, or Kidnap for Ransom group centered in the municipality of Kabuntulan in Maguindanao Province just a hop down the Pulangi River (Rio Grande de Mindanao). They primarily target Tsinoy, or Filipinos of Chinese descent because they pay a lot AND quickly but also target any Westerner stupid enough to walk around without a long arm and or body guards. The last one that I know of was some stupid middle aged German who like many Westerners come here in search of buried treasure. I should blog about yje treasure freaks.

Me? I always think of the Peruvian American from California, Guillermo Sobrero who came here in 2000 to be with his Filipina GF despite having a wife and kids at home. He had met her online and it was his second trip. They were part of a group kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf, another Islamo-fascist outfit. Also taken in that same kidnapping was an American missionary couple, the Burnhams. It always stays on my mind because the guy was a junkie, addicted at the time to Benzos. When they were kidnapped his medication got left behind and by the second day in the jungle he was whining like a bitch, as indeed almost anyone would. Sick of his whining they decided to make a point, kill 2 birds with 1 stone so to speak. They chopped off his head with a sword. Hahaha its why I always carry at least 3 grammes of morphine tablets with me whenever I leave the compound.

One gets used to the island, it is indeed very much like the Wild West and many have made that comparison. It can make you sick to your stomach sometimes, the AFP (military) killing a 6 year old girl and defending it by claiming that she was an NPA(Maoist) guerilla. They even said she was carrying an M16 with a grenade launcher! And then the same with each and everyone of the armed groups. It can break most people I think, if the ponder it too much.

 

Caraboa isn't like Bison. Caraboa is a sub-species of water buffalo. It isn't eaten much in Mindanao cause its the most important possesion of a poor family. Everyone farms using them. We even have our labourers use them cause it is much more cost efficient. Some people, like the Kadzan of Malaysian Borneo DO eat them and the meat plays a big role in the culture. Here only when one dies birthing or is roadkill, then you see the poor people actually fighting over the scraps.

Bolo Rounds are awesome. You know, at a certain point bullets beging to roll head over tail. Bolos do that from the start and when they hit that momentum plus its configuration just tears a deep path through a body. Noone lives with a head shot or abdomen shot. There's another kind of round that will be fun to try, Dragons Breath. The round shoots fire like a flamethrower, much more aggressive than a plain old incedinary round. I'm really glad we are going with shotguns.

 

Joysa and I are doing great. Its just that the insurgency here is pretty bloody right now so I need to keep an eye on business as well as the group I'm involved with. I can't have her come down here so it all depends on how and when I can travel to Manila/Makati. I do need to sit down and decide what to do because to take it to a next stage, making a home together, I need to decide where we will live. Like most Filipinos she's terrified of Mindanao even if I could live with her here. I have considered livinf on one of the very small islands off of Surigao del Norte Province, but it would be 12 hours from here on a good day and the flight from Makati is 1 hour and 15 min so its kind of silly. I wish I could bring her in the compound but that can never happen.

On another note I need to decide what to do about something else but its lengthly so Ill probably just blog about it as well as Animal's comment slash question.

 

I admire how greatly you protect her. you're a good man who does the things good men do. Very respectable. It should be more common but we know how that is