The New Settlers: Mindanao Muslims Head North

‘Hulidap’

The incidence of renegade police officers kidnapping Muslims and extorting them is so common according to the OMA that it has coined its own word for it: hulidap. ‘Huli’ being the Tagalog word for arrest, and ‘dap’ short for kidnap.

“There were days we have as many as 10 people coming to our office to complain about hulidap,” says Datu Hassan Dalimbang, OMA director for the National Capital Region (NCR).

But while many come to OMA to complain, very few are willing to divulge their full identity and file cases for fear of reprisal.

As a result, the OMA has set up its own surveillance and entrapment system in partnership with the PNP. In one successful operation, Amina’s captors were arrested and are now facing charges in court. OMA has also gone around Muslim communities, conducting awareness campaign to educate Muslims of their rights.

One percent

According to Dalimbang, about one per cent of police officers comprise these renegade officers who regularly target Muslim businesses in hulidap syndicates.

But despite official attempts to clamp down on the corruption, hulidap remains a serious problem according to Dalimbang. Corrupt officers are believed to run paid informants in the Manila Muslim community who alert gangs to rich pickings among the Islamic business world here.

These rogue cops usually accuse their victims of involvement in illegal drugs. Attorney Sittie Rahana Jhan Ganda, OMA legal officer, says it is an “easy concept” because there have been several Muslims who have been arrested in legitimate police operations against illegal drugs.

“We don’t tolerate these Muslims who are involved in illegal activities,” says Ganda who adds that some have managed to bribe officers to stay out of jail.

Torture

A number of hulidap victims have complained of physical torture too. Dalimbang says men were beaten to pressure their families to give money fast, while some women have been raped while abducted.

Alima Mangotara has yet to get over from the trauma she went through while negotiating for the release of her husband who was allegedly abducted by a hulidap gang on Valentine’s Day two years ago.

Over the phone, she would hear her husband screaming in apparent pain while being beaten. “Pag naisip ko yon, naiiyak ako (I cry whenever I remember it),” says Alima.