September 4, 2001, The Philippine Star, US vows support in Sayyaf crisis,

September 4, 2001, The Philippine Star, US vows support in Sayyaf crisis,

The United States wants to support the government in resolving the scourge of the Abu Sayyaf which the military now considers a "national threat."

James Kelly, US assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific affairs, met with President Arroyo at Malacañang yesterday to express Washington's concern over the military’s failure to rescue two American hostages from the extremist group.

But the US official said Washington understood the difficulties faced by the military, which has been conducting continuous operations against the bandits on Basilan island.

"I just expressed sympathy and the difficulty of this, and expressed the US interest in supporting the government of the Philippines in the difficult problems mentioned," Kelly said.

"The only measure of success on something like this is when the hostages are released and that has not happened in adequate measures, certainly not with the Americans involved," he added.

Kelly said he and Mrs. Arroyo briefly discussed the hostage crisis and he relayed his government’s support toward Manila’s campaign to crush the Abu Sayyaf, which is holding at least two American hostages, missionary couple Gracia and Martin Burnham.

The bandits seized the Burnhams, originally from Wichita, Kansas, along with another American, Guillermo Sobero, and 18 other Filipinos from the Dos Palmas beach resort off Palawan last May 27. The bandits claimed they had executed Sobero on June 12.

Kelly, however, did not specify what kind of support the US is willing to extend to the military which has upgraded its classification of the Abu Sayyaf as a "national threat."

Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Diomedio Villanueva said the bandits should now be considered as a "national threat" because of their continued growth.

"We have to categorize them now as a national threat because their network is growing, more people are being attracted and the situation in Mindanao is worsening." he said.

To eliminate the threat, Villanueva said more troops should be sent to Mindanao with modern weapons to pursue the bandits and their hostages.

In Zamboanga City, the military announced the informants assured them the missionary couple are still alive but experiencing "physical hardships.

Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Edilberto Adan said informants last week saw the Burnhams in good condition "under the given circumstances."

"But we learned they are having difficulty in the kind of food they are eating because they have to eat the same kind of food the Abu Sayyaf are eating," Adan said.

Adan said the diet of the two Americans is limited to rice, cassava and salt and they continue to be exposed to the harsh environment in the jungles of Basilan.

"They are exposed to different elements like rain, sun and (have to hide) in caves... but they are in good condition," he said.

Col. Hermogenes Esperon, commander of the Army’s 103rd Brigade and Task Group Tornado which is pursuing the bandits and their captives, said they have received reports that the hostages are being kept in a camp of a certain Amir Mingkong of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Barangay Upper Baiwas in Sumisip town.

The military is now preparing a complaint against the MILF for conniving with the Abu Sayyaf although the separatist group is now negotiating a peace accord with the government.

Esperon said he has also received reports that Sobero was still alive, contrary to the claim of the bandits that they had executed him, but he stressed the military still has to confirm the report.

In a related development, former President Fidel Ramos warned the accusation of Lamitan, Basilan parish priest Cirilo Nacorda that the military colluded with the Abu Sayyaf kidnappers could hamper efforts to rescue the Burnhams and other remaining hostages.

"We must remember that this could cause demoralization in the Armed Forces and the police, who are still working very hard to effect the rescue of some of the hostages still in the hands of the Abu Sayyaf," Ramos told radio station dzBB.

"Is he out to destroy the morale of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police?" the former president asked.

Nacorda claimed to have written Ramos shortly after his release in 1994 and identified certain military officials he claimed colluded with the bandits.

Ramos confirmed that he received the letter and had given copies to the defense and interior secretaries at the time.

"We received reports like these almost every day and these were properly investigated as long as they were not blanket accusations. But for him to say that I did nothing to stop the Abu Sayyaf, that is a complete lie," Ramos said.

Meanwhile, Basilan Rep. Gerry Salapuddin also denied the claim of Spanish missionary priest Bernardo Blanco that Salapuddin, who was Basilan governor at the time, was also in cahoots with the Abu Sayyaf in 1993.

"It is a complete lie and unfounded," Salapuddin said, claiming the revival of the allegations was "an insinuation" engineered by people out to discredit him.

Blanco, now 74, is a Claretian missionary who was kidnapped in Matarling, Lantawan town and held captive by the bandits from Mar. 18 to May 26, 1993.

The priest managed to escape from his sleeping captors in Barangay Masola in Sumisip town at about 2 a.m. of May 26 and walked for almost 20 kilometers, following the direction of the moon.

Blanco recently claimed some soldiers and policemen had been selling spare ammunition to the rebels almost 10 years ago but stressed he was referring only to bad eggs and not to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for peace on the strife-torn island.

However, he also asked Congress to look into reports that some local officials, like Salapuddin, may have been in cahoots with the bandits.

But Esperon, who was the chief intelligence officer of the military Southern Command at the time, explained the priest must have been referring to the military weapons that were taken by the bandits from slain government troopers.

Military records show most of the firearms recovered from the Abu Sayyaf bore the serial numbers of weapons issued to government troopers. -- Roel Pareño, Sandy Araneta