By Casey McClaren '17
This week, a video of four hostages of Islamic militants in the Philippines was released. The hostages are believed to have been kidnapped on September 2, 2015 at the Oceanview Resort in the southern province of Samal, in the Philippines. The hostages include: Robert Hall and John Ridsdel, two Canadian nationals, Kjartan Sekkingstad, a Norwegian national, and Marites Flor, a Filipino national. Flor is the only female of the four hostages; she is Hall’s girlfriend. All are tourists except Sekkingstad, who owns the nearby Oceanview Marina.Their captors may be affiliated with ISIS – western news sources have thus far been unable to verify whether flags in the video bear ISIS symbols or similar jihadist symbols. The captors have not made any monetary demands; instead, they have asked the hostages’ governments to cease military operations, including bombing and artillery fire in the southern Philippines. Colonel Restuto Padilla, an army spokesman, says that their position will not change as a result of these “terrorist” demands.The Philippines is the world’s third most dangerous country for journalists to report. Since 1992, 77 journalists have been killed there; only Iraq and Syria have reported more journalist deaths. There are several semi-autonomous Muslim regions that have been engaged in a drawn-out conflict for decades with the federal government due to religious and cultural differences. One of the most notorious conflicts, the Maguindano Massacre, occurred in 2009. A total of 32 journalists and 25 civilians were killed in response to their support for a gubernatorial candidate running against the province’s incumbent governor and warlord, Adnal Ampatuan. A significant culture of impunity also exists, as there are no convictions in over 90% of murder cases. Even in the past week, an Italian national was kidnapped from his pizza restaurant in another southern province.Taking hostages has become a crucial tenet of ISIS’s expansion strategy, as it serves as both an intimidation tactic and a revenue source. ISIS has taken dozens of American and European hostages, as well as hundreds of Arab ones, largely targeting Christians and other religious minorities. Most American hostages are ultimately killed, while many European hostages are released. ISIS bears more animosity towards the U.S., U.K., and Canada than many other nations due to their aggressive stance against ISIS in international politics. As a result, ISIS typically subjects American, English, and Canadian nationals to more torture and worse living conditions.Additionally, it is widely believed that some European nations, including Denmark, Germany, and France, have paid ransoms in exchange for the safe return of their citizens. All of these countries, however, denies having done so. The jihadists are likely to release more videos in the near future that request payment in exchange for the hostages.Sources:http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/14/asia/philippines-hostages-video/http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34524830http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/03/i-was-an-isis-hostage-for-5-months.htmlhttp://www.cnn.com/2015/05/04/asia/philippines-deadly-for-journalists/index.html