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PAS : KE ARAH PEMERINTAHAN ISLAM YANG ADIL
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Salam~
Ponniah a/p Mohd Ishak dan Nurhaida Awari Sintos
http://www.inquirer.net 23 Jul 2000
'I've lost my son
to the Abu Sayyaf,' says ma
By Julie Alipala-Inot
PDI Mindanao Bureau
ISABELA, Basilan--Richard Sintos is home after 65 days in
captivity, but his mother is still anguished.
''I feel like I've lost my son to the Abu Sayyaf,'' Nurhaida Awari
Sintos, 36, said.
Members of the Basilan-based Abu Sayyaf seized Richard, 16,
the eldest of Nurhaida's nine children, in May after a clash with
government soldiers at which his father, a Scout Ranger, was
killed.
Richard has converted to Islam since then. And now, he no
longer wants to be called by his Christian name.
''I am Bashir Awari, not Richard,'' he said in Filipino.
Nurhaida wept and said: ''You're still adjusting, son.''
In an interview with the INQUIRER, Nurhaida said that during
their reunion Thursday night at the 103rd Army Brigade
headquarters in Tabiawan, she immediately noticed that the boy
had changed.
''I couldn't understand. We were crying. We were embracing.
But when I asked him if something bad happened to him while
he was being held by the Abu Sayyaf, he immediately distanced
himself from me,'' she said.
''He wouldn't come near me. But I understand because he's
probably still adjusting. He was gone for some time but when he
returned, he didn't seem like Richard. It's as if I've lost a son.
The real Richard is quiet, doting, fond of joking,'' she said.
Nurhaida was a devout Muslim when she married Freddie Sintos
at the age of 15.
She said she converted to the Catholic religion in 1989 for the
sake of her children, the youngest of whom is 9 years old.
Last visit
On May 17, Richard visited his father at the Scout Rangers'
detachment in Lower Maticang, Lantawan town, while the other
soldiers were trying to retrieve the bodies of Fr. Rhoel Gallardo
and several other hostages earlier killed by the Abu Sayyaf.
News of fighting between the soldiers and the extremists
prodded the elder Sintos to rush to the scene. But before then,
he ordered Richard to hide.
When the sound of gunfire stopped, Richard looked for his
father and saw him dead. It was then that the extremists seized
him.
Nurhaida expressed helplessness toward her son's decision to
embrace Islam.
''I can't do anything if he wants to be a Muslim. But I hope he
doesn't forget that his father was killed by the Abu Sayyaf,'' she
said.
''That was an encounter. He was not (purposely) killed),''
Richard said, butting in.
He said he would not file charges against the Abu Sayyaf for
his father's death.
But while he does not harbor ill feelings toward his kidnappers,
he has no wish to join them, he said.
''I have so many plans, like helping my mother so all of us can
finish school. I want to return to school this second semester, if
there's money,'' he said.
In response to his mother's attempt to convince him to go back
to the Catholic religion, Richard told the INQUIRER that he
would rather be a Muslim.
''No. Islam is better,'' he said in Nurhaida's presence. ''You will be
afraid to commit a sin. You will be able to avoid temptation such
as drinking, smoking, even going to discos.''
He said he had been religiously praying the ''sambahayang'' five
times daily, not because he had promised the Abu Sayyaf to do
so but because ''I want to do it.''
''(The Abu Sayyaf) didn't force me. I wanted to be a Muslim. My
mother was a Muslim but she converted,'' he said.
Richard plans to take criminology--like his father did--and wants
to join the police force.
''I don't want to be like other policemen who do bad things. I
want to be like my father, but I don't want to join the Army,'' he
said.
Road to freedom
On Thursday, Abu Ahmad Salayuddin, alias Abu Sabbaya, and
a certain Commander Isnilon escorted Richard to Barangay
Igasan in Patikul, Sulu, a 30-minute drive from the Abu Sayyaf
camp.
When they reached Igasan at about noon, he was met by Sulu
Vice Gov. Munib Estino and told to board a van for Jolo.
''I don't know if money changed hands because (Estino) covered
my face with a turong,'' he said.
From Jolo, he boarded an Air Force helicopter. ''It was my first
helicopter ride. I was afraid to fall. The ride makes you dizzy,'' he
said.
Col. Saulito Aromin, 103rd Army brigade commander, said it was
natural for Richard to appear ''as if he is siding with the Abu
Sayyaf.''
''When he returns to normal life, away from the running, he will
forget the Abu Sayyaf,'' Aromin said.
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