May 31, 2002, The Manila Times, Spies, terrorists attracted to treasure hunters’ circles, by Dorian Zumel-Sicat,

May 31, 2002, The Manila Times, Spies, terrorists attracted to treasure hunters’ circles, by Dorian Zumel-Sicat, Friday, 

Conclusion

LOST and hidden treasures are the stuff of which legends are made. The legends of the treasures of Mindanao are full of international intrigue, accounts of treachery and betrayal, tales about shadowy characters, shady deals all mixed with a bit of the noble and of compassion.

Michael T. Meiring was critically injured in a blast that gutted his hotel room, Suite 305 of the Evergreen Hotel in downtown Davao City on May 16. He will not fully recover from those injuries. Both of his legs were amputated at the knee because of irreparable compound fractures. He suffered first to third degree burns in 40 percent of his body. The “who” and “why” of the blast remains unknown amidst an array of speculation by investigators and reporters.

Meiring’s background is murky but that, military defense officials note, is par for the course. Terrorists and intelligence operatives of all stripes about among treasure hunters’ circles.

The Americans have used treasure hunting as a cover for intelligence activities. In 1963, a C-47 US Air Force Cargo plane crashed somewhere in the central highlands of Min­danao, sinking into the depths of a lake that has yet to be charted. Top secret is the tag on this story.

According to sources in the United States who will remain anonymous, the plane was carrying the stolen cache of Madame Ngu who fled from Vietnam in 1963 after a successful US-led coup. The light was unmanifested and had no flight plan. But sources say that it was enroute to Clark Air Base. There is record of a sole survivor of the crash, Airman Lawrence Havelock.

Havelock reported struggled to Cagayan de Oro, where he was treated at a hospital for exposure and minor injuries. Later he was repatriated and then mysteriously given a general discharged from the US Air Force.

Several years after his discharge Havelock returned to Mindanao to try to find the crash site and the plane. He never did. He returned to the States broke and in debt. He finally ended up convicted of a federal fraud.

Terrorists, too, have been known to put up treasure hunting fronts. The three Vietnamese terrorists arrested last year for plotting to blow up the Vietnamese Embassy here were assets of the US intelligence community. They and their Japanese colleague were also involved in treasure hunting — and the export of marijuana. They had links to close friends of deposed presidents Joseph Estrada and Ferdinand Marcos and their patroness and financier hobnobbed with a poseur who called himself a son of Marcos.

There are other names that come up in the treasure hunter game. Intelligence officers allowed The Manila Times to publish only the names of those involved during the 1990s, saying “current” names of the list were being monitored for links to a strange circle of white supremacists and Islamic fundamentalists:

Bob Gould (in the Philippines in March of 1990 and June of 1991) came from Hayward, California. His connection was a Frederick Obado, Filipino-American, who was linked to a group of Kodar Kiram, son of the late Sultan Jumalul Kiram and younger brother of Rodinod Kiram. Gould and others in Davao City made plans in 1990 and 1991 to invade Sabbah and claim it for the Sultanate of Sabbah-Sulu. Gould has connections with a Libertarian group in California and is the subject of an Internal Revenue Service investigation on tax evasion.

Nina North. A close friend of Gould. Her acquaintances claim she has connections to the Central Intelligence Agency, but those connections are too vague. In 1990, 1991, and 1992, she maintained contact with Obado and was dealing with high officials in the Mid-East, including representatives of Khadaffy and Bin Laden, with regard to transfer of gold bullion from the Philippines, through the “back door.” North is from Fremont, California.

Andy Gould (no relation to Bob), an Australian and John Lawrence, a Brit, both hangers-on in Ermita (back in the early ’90s). They also had dealings with Obado, Bob Gould, and Swihart with regard to gold bullion and the Yamashita treasure.

"Tinoy" Simbahon of Magpet, North Cotabato. A treasure guide. His wife had met with Obado and Gould on several occasions in the Manila Pen back in 1990. He had met with Obado and a certain De Lara, in late 1991 in Magpet to make a deal for the purchase of gold bullion. Simbahon had admitted to Gould that he was secretly working for Swihart to help Muslim independence in Mindanao.

Fred Eder, Honolulu, Hawaii. He is a tailor. But he has a corporation registered under the name of Rose Mining and Exploration Company, with headquarters somewhere in General Santos City. Simbahon is a partner. This is the group that enticed Obado and Gould to look for treasure. Eder is also somehow connected with a Fil-Am group that once supported the defunct Movement for Independent Mindanao (MIM). On radio station KNDY, Honolulu, as late as 1999, Eder was heard advocating independence for Muslim Mindanao.