Skip to main contentdfsdf

Home/ stevenwarran's Library/ Notes/ October 10, 2000, The Philippine Star, 5 Robot followers yield to military,

October 10, 2000, The Philippine Star, 5 Robot followers yield to military,

from web site

names

October 10, 2000, The Philippine Star, 5 Robot followers yield to military,


ZAMBOANGA CITY — Five followers of Abu Sayyaf leader Ghalib Andang, alias Commander Robot, surrendered with their weapons to Army troops in Sulu last Saturday. 

Task Force Trident commander Maj. Gen. Narciso Abaya said the first to surrender were Cesar Taug and Zaldy Hayudini, who told him that they were among 15 Abu Sayyaf bandits holding out aboard a motorboat in a swamp in Luuk.

Abaya said the remaining three — Abdulkani JulkaniSedaf Pala and Muni Igasan — gave up to government forces 16 hours later following negotiations with Talipao Mayor Maas Bawang Estino. 

Abaya said Taug and Hayudi had informed him that their comrades were low in morale and suffering from fatigue, and that they wanted to surrender. 

During interrogation, Julkani, Pala and Igasan admitted that they helped Commander Robot and his band of kidnappers pass through Barangay Maybahay in Talipao with their 21 hostages upon their arrival in Jolo from Sipadan island off the Malaysian state of Sabah last April 23. 

The three told Army intelligence officers they decided to join Commander Robot's gang after they were attracted by the thought of earning easy money through kidnapping. 

The gang of Commander Robot kidnapped 21 mostly foreign hostages from Sipadan and brought them to Jolo, Sulu where most were held for almost five months until they were released one after the other after the reported payment of ransom. 

Of the 21, only one hostage, Filipino Roland Ullah, remains with a faction of the Abu Sayyaf, and he, along with an American and three Malaysians are the object of a massive rescue operation launched by the military last month. 

Abaya said government troops are continuing their search for the Abu Sayyaf bandits and their hostages and confirmed that they have sighted the group holding the American and three Malaysians, but refused to give their locations so as not to compromise the rescue operations. 

He said they have received surrender feelers from various Abu Sayyaf commanders. At Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City, Armed Forces chief Gen. Angelo Reyes said yesterday all five remaining hostages of the Abu Sayyaf are still in Sulu. We anticipate more surrenderors to come in the coming days," he said. 

Last Sunday, an undetermined number of Abu Sayyaf bandits were reportedly wounded after a one-hour firefight with government troops near Mt. Mahala. Reports sent to Camp Aguinaldo said the soldiers recovered an Armalite rifle and hundreds of bullets from the scene. 

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado said yesterday the government is open to talks with the Abu Sayyaf to free the five hostages, but stressed there would be no letup in the military assault. 

"As of the moment, we are operating against them, there can be negotiations but it doesn't mean we will stop our operations," he said. "Now if there are attempts to negotiate let it be. We are not going to stand in the way, but they should not stand in the way also." 

Mercado said the military assault launched last month dealt a heavy blow to the Abu Sayyaf, which lost more than 100 fighters and caches of firearms since the operation began. "We have them on the run, we believe that despite the heckling one of these days we will be able to get the hostages out," he said. 

Last Sept. 16, President Estrada ordered the assault against the Abu Sayyaf to rescue 19 hostages and destroy the group, and following fierce clashes last week, Army troops rescue Christian evangelist Wilde Almeda and his 11 disciples from the Jesus Miracle Crusade. 

In a related development, Malaysia reiterated its call on the Philippines yesterday to establish a consulate in Sabah to handle the immigration and labor problems of thousands of Filipino immigrants. In a statement, the Malaysian Embassy said about 200,000 Filipino immigrants are in Sabah, and that Malaysian authorities will continue to repatriate them. 

The embassy said Malaysia would temporarily place refugees from the fighting in Jolo in an island off Sabah and would return them to Jolo after military operations have ended. 

Immigrants who are found without proper documents and not from Jolo would be arrested, detained, and deported, the embassy added. On the other hand, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Lauro Baja told The STAR yesterday the government had long decided to open a consulate in Sabah, but that Congress had not yet appropriated the budget for the project. 

Baja said Malaysia had assured the Philippines that the consulate's establishment will be for the benefit of Filipinos and Malaysians and will not affect the Philippine claim to Sabah. However, certain foreign affairs officials fear the timing might not be appropriate for opening a consulate in Sabah as the issue might stir a political debate during the elections next year. Earlier, Foreign Affairs Secretary Domingo Siazon Jr. said there were no moves yet to reconvene the legislative and executive committee on the Sabah claim since there was no need for it. – Roel Pareno, Paolo Romero, Aurea Calica, AFP

Would you like to comment?

Join Diigo for a free account, or sign in if you are already a member.

stevenwarran

Saved by stevenwarran

on Jan 21, 13