October 7, 2001, The Philippine Star, US help sought in identifying Sobero's remains,

October 7, 2001, The Philippine Star, US help sought in identifying Sobero's remains,

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Military officials sought US help yesterday in identifying the skeletal remains believed to be those of a kidnapped American executed by Abu Sayyaf bandits in Mindanao. 

Brig. Gen. Glicerio Sua said the military was led to the remains, believed to be those of California resident Guillermo Sobero, by an Abu Sayyaf bandit suspected of being one of Sobero’s executioners. 

The former rebel led soldiers to a shallow grave where they recovered human remains consisting of left and right femur bones. Also recovered were a tattered white shirt with blue stripes, a pair of rubber sandals and a nylon cord believed to have been used to tie the victim. The remains were due to be brought here from Basilan yesterday. 

"We still cannot determine yet who owns the remains," said Sua, head of Task Force Comet, which is tracking down the Abu Sayyaf. The Muslim extremist group is still holding two other Americans and 16 Filipinos in Basilan. 

However, the troops have so far failed to find the skull, complicating the identification process. 

Sobero was among three Americans and 17 Filipinos seized by the Abu Sayyaf in an upscale resort in Palawan and taken to Basilan on May 27, where most of the Filipinos escaped or were released allegedly for ransom. 

Sua and other officials said they are asking the US Embassy to send experts to verify if the decapitated skeleton is indeed Sobero’s. 

Lt. Col. Darwin Guerra, spokesman for the military’s Southern Command, said authorities are now coordinating with the US Embassy to help in the forensic examination. 

However, Col. Hermogenes Esperon, another military commander in Basilan, said that "based on the witnesses accounts, we have reason to believe that it was Sobero’s remains." 

"There is a big probability that the bones were that of Sobero because the former rebels were with the Abu Sayyaf group that executed Sobero," Esperon said. 

The local newspaper Zamboanga Today quoted Lt. Col. Romeo Labrador, commander of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Batallion, as saying "We are definitely sure these remains were of Sobero because the one who led us here was his executioner." 

Three Abu Sayyaf bandits who surrendered recently led troops Friday to a shallow grave in the jungle on Basilan Peak, Esperon said. 

US Embassy spokesman Karen Kelley said it was standard practice for Washington to send representatives in such cases but she could not say when the forensics experts would arrive. 

Abu Sayyaf spokesman Aldam Tilao, alias Abu Sabaya, claimed in June to have beheaded Sobero as an Independence Day gift to the Philippine government. 

The military has since presumed him dead, although it has maintained there was no independent evidence to back up the claim. 

The rebels then seized more local hostages in Basilan. 

At least a dozen of the Filipino hostages taken in Basilan were beheaded by the Abu Sayyaf in retaliation for a military crackdown launched by President Arroyo. 

The bandits are still holding American missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham and 16 other hostages. 

Among the local captives are Angie Montealegre and Ma. Fe. Rosadeño, both taken from Palawan, four Lamitan, Basilan hospital workers and 10 coconut farm workers from Tairan in Lantawan town. 

Meanwhile, the mortar attack conducted by the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan’s capitol of Isabela City was not an offensive but a defensive action to divert pursuing military troopes, National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said. 

Golez said this was the gist of a briefing conducted by Southcom chief Lt. Gen. Roy Cimatu for the Cabinet oversights committee on internal security (COCIS). 

Golez said Abu Sayyaf leaders Khaddafi Janjalani and Sabaya "are on the run to avoid sure death in the face of fierce military offensive." 

"Abu Sabaya and the rest of the ASG forces in the area are getting demoralized by the non-stop offensive operation," he said. 

Based on Cimatu’s report, Golez said the ASG armed strength of 1,100 has been decimated by the intensified crackdown launched by the military on the orders of Mrs. Arroyo. 

Since July 13, Cimatu reported the ASG has dwindled to 850 men due to the capture of 180 bandits, surrender of 90 and the killing of 80 bandits, Golez said.