March 22, 2000, The Philippine Star, Sayyaf threatens to kill hostages,

The Muslim fundamentalist group Abu Sayyaf threatened yesterday to kill its hostages if the military would press its assault, but offered to free some of the children held captive in exchange for food and medicine. In another development, President Estrada, who flew to Mindanao yesterday, warned that an all-out campaign would be launched to crush the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

Armed Forces chief Gen. Angelo Reyes said the troops would pursue their operations against the Abu Sayyaf. But he asked the rebels not to harm their captives, saying they were civilians who had nothing to do with the conflict. "If they bring the food to us, we will free some of the hostages. They can take some of the children," Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Ahmad Alajudin said in a radio interview in Zamboanga City.

He said they were still holding 43 civilians, consisting of 27 elementary and high school students, a Catholic priest and 15 teachers of the Claret school in Barangay Sampinit in Isabela, Basilan.

The hostages were seized after the rebels tried to attack last Monday an Army outpost in the village of Tumahubong in Sumisip town in Basilan. However, the military said the rebel group was holding 38 students, teachers and a Catholic priest after the failed raid on the Army detachment in Basilan. "We will not harm the hostages, but if the military launches an operation to rescue the victims, it is up to them. The blood will be on their hands," Admad warned.

He also said one of the captives was pregnant and had a miscarriage. "We need a doctor and a female Red Cross worker to cure the sick and the injured," he added. Ahmad said they would negotiate only with members of the Claretian order and a local politician, Candu Muarip.

Maj. Gen. Diomedio Villanueva, chief of the Armed Forces' Southern Command (Southcom), said he has ordered his men to ensure the safety of the hostages. Heavily armed Abu Sayyaf fundamentalist guerrillas stormed the Army outpost early Monday morning, triggering a 30-minute firefight that left two soldiers wounded.

But the troops put up a gallant defense, forcing the rebels to withdraw toward the Claret High School where they seized Fr. Roel Gallardo, school principal Reynaldo Rubio, five other teachers and a large group of students. The gunmen later released unharmed 20 students in various areas. Later that day, another group of Abu Sayyaf rebels swooped down on Sinangcapan High School in Tuburan town where they abducted 11 teachers, not students as reported earlier.

Southcom spokesman Col. Hilario Atendido said the guerrillas holding the teachers and students were led by Insilon Hapilon and Kadafi Janjalani, brother of slain Abu Sayyaf leader Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani. Villanueva raised the possibility that the MILF and the Abu Sayyaf were acting in concert to draw attention away from MILF units under siege by the military.

Estrada vows to crush rebellion in South

Addressing soldiers in Kauswagan town in Lanao del Norte, the President said there would be no letup in the government's anti-insurgency drive. "I am warning them, I will not ease up. We will not rest... my soldiers will not rest until they (rebels) are defeated," Mr. Estrada said before hundreds of soldiers and townsfolk in Kauswagan which was occupied last week by some 400 MILF guerrillas.

As the Chief Executive spoke, Army artillery boomed from a distance as fighting between the troops and the MILF rebels raged. Grim-looking presidential guards, armed with assault rifles, formed a human wall around the President to protect him from snipers as he alighted from a military helicopter to pin medals on the soldiers.

At the town hall where glass windows were shattered during last week's fighting, Mr. Estrada ate a lunch of noodles and smoked fish with the troops. "The attack on Kauswagan was a direct challenge to our government. We will not let them spread fear and terror among our people," Mr. Estrada stressed. The military had claimed some 100 MILF guerrillas were killed in last week's clashes, but the rebel group insisted they lost only seven men. Meanwhile, the Vatican representative to Manila has telephoned the Basilan prelature to express his concern over the abductions.

Fr. Martin Jumuad, chancellor to the Basilan prelature, said on the radio that the papal nuncio was "very much worried." "The only assurance that he is saying to us is that he will raise this immediately to the attention of the Pope and he assured us of his prayers," Jumuad said.

He also appealed to the rebels to release the children, saying they are innocent. The priest also said the church was willing to negotiate and provide food. The Abu Sayyaf was blamed for last month's simultaneous bomb attacks on two police stations and a restaurant in Basilan, killing one person and wounding 17 others.

Ethnic war sizzles in Kauswagan

Irate Christians torched at least three Muslim homes in Kauswagan in apparently retaliation to the MILF's siege of their town last week. Meanwhile, a Muslim leader was reportedly shot dead by a lone assailant inside the victim's house in Butuan City. Police identified the victim as Macabangit Pandin, 60, former Butuan City Commission on Elections Officer.

Pandin's companion, Abdul Mohaiman, 14, was wounded in the attack. This developed as the President ordered the 15-day suspension of Kauswagan Mayor Moamar Maruhom for allegedly abandoning his constituents at the town hall during the MILF attack.

Vice Mayor Peddy Milan was designated as officer-in-charge. For her part, Lanao del Norte Gov. Imelda Dimaporo denied allegations she was sympathetic to the MILF. Dimaporo said while they are also Muslims, it did not mean they were supporting the MILF.

"I have not even seen or met any of the MILF commanders, but I have received extortion letters from them asking for money or revolutionary taxes which I did not give," the governor said. Munai town Mayor Casan Maguiling also denied he was friendly to the rebels.

Meanwhile, an estimated 12,000 villagers from Barangays Suarez, Tominobo and Ditucalan evacuated to the city as MILF fighters were reported massing up in the hinterland barangays of nearby Balo-i town in Lanao del Norte.

Military commanders ordered the setting up of blocking forces to prevent the rebels' entry into civilian centers. Iligan City Mayor Franklin Quijano said the displaced residents were housed in at least 15 evacuation centers.

Despite the resurgence of hostilities in Mindanao, Senate Majority Leader Franklin Drilon said that the National Security Council remained confident that a peace treaty with the MILF could be concluded by June 30, the deadline set by Mr. Estrada. Speaking in Bacolod City, Drilon said the skirmishes involved a main talking point in the peace negotiations--the recognition of MILF camps by the government. - Marichu Villanueva, Paolo Romero, Efren Danao, Roel Pareño, Lino de la Cruz, Edith Regalado, Ben Serrano, John Unson, Rolly Espina, Sheila Crisostomo, wire services