Muslim extremist guerrillas beheaded a second Canadian hostage on Mon, Jun 13, after its demands for PHP300 million were not met.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed outrage while maintaining that ransoms should not be paid.
“The vicious and brutal actions of the hostage-takers have led to a needless death. Canada holds the terrorist group who took him hostage fully responsible for this cold-blooded and senseless murder,” he said.
The family Robert Ward Hall left behind agrees with Canada’s no-ransom-paid policy.
“Our family, even in our darkest hour, agrees wholeheartedly with Canada’s policy of not paying ransom to those who would seek to undermine the fundamental values with which my father lived his life,” a family member said in a statement released to the media.
Hall’s family described him as a self-made man who who “worked his entire life and honed his many talents in the pursuit of a life for his family, far removed from the hardships of his own youth.”
He was a successful businessman who was involved small businesses like an engine repair shop and a fresh pizza stand.
“He spent 25 years building his custom welding and fabrication business, which specialized in a variety of projects from custom truck decks to highly delicate aircraft repair. After retirement, he would use his years of experience, many technical and artistic skills, and engineer’s mind to become a consultant,” the statement said.
In his older years, he travelled the world, including the Philippines.
“He was resolved to live there, to sail across the Pacific, with or without company, and make his home in what he called his paradise on earth….He loved everything about the Philippines. The people, he said, are warm and gracious. He took an active interest in his community and his neighbors, and coached a local soccer team.”
Hall lived in Davao and knew that he had found his home “with its mild weather, friendly people and in the company of other expats.”
“A romantic to the very core, Robert believed in controlling his own destiny, and that hard work and a desire to succeed were the two main ingredients to any successful endeavor,” his family wrote.
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