August 2 , 2004, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Media, Politicians Distorted Collusion,

August 2 , 2004, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Media, Politicians Distorted Collusion,

CAMP AQUINO, TARLAC, (STAR) By Benjie Villa - Mass media and some politicians "blurred the line between fact and fiction" when they insisted that military officials colluded with Islamists in extorting money from hostages, said the commander of a military task force that ran after the Abu Sayyaf in 2001.

Lt. Gen. Romeo Dominguez, now chief of the Armed Forces Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) based here, also said the media had downplayed the accomplishment of soldiers during the siege of Lamitan in Basilan in June 2001.

"The monster was a creation of mediamen who failed to validate their source of information," he said.

Meanwhile, Malacañang has accepted the stand of government prosecutors on American missionary Gracia Burnham’s testimony that she was not aware of any collusion between the Armed Forces and the Abu Sayyaf.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye Jr. said they have to "go by the declaration of the DOJ (Department of Justice) prosecutors that she (Burnham) did not make any statements about the alleged collusion."

Dominguez said the media had "practically ignored" the fact that troops were able to recover 21 of the 30 hostages from fleeing Abu Sayyaf bandits.

He added that the "small lapses" of military commanders at the lowest levels "were magnified and linked to imagined collusion to feed the discontent of an exasperated public."

"Yet we in the military would have wanted nothing better than to end the people’s grief by destroying the Abu Sayyaf kidnappers holed up in that (hospital) compound in Lamitan," he said.

"Your soldiers make mistakes. But under no circumstances will they accept blood money," he added.

Dominguez described as "non-existent" the P25-million ransom that he was supposed to have received from the Abu Sayyaf at the height of the Lamitan hostage crisis.

"If indeed there was a briefcase and it contained lots of money, would I have not kept my aide within my sight all the time?" he asked.

"It was impossible to fit the amount inside an attaché case,

much more to be carried by only one person. It would be unthinkable for the money to be carried around so casually, let alone shown for everyone to see," Dominguez said.

In recalling the hostage drama, Dominguez said that the "key" to a better understanding of the Lamitan incident is the knowledge that there were actually two hospitals in the town –Torres Hospital and Lamitan’s emergency district hospital.

Dominguez described Torres Hospital as a "church-cum-hospital," where the Abu Sayyaf bandits were holed up with the 30 hostages they seized from a posh resort in Palawan and during the week in transit.

On the other hand, Lamitan’s emergency district hospital was the base of operations of the troops laying siege to Torres Hospital, he added.

Dominguez said of the 2,000 troops involved in the siege, only half could be maneuvered since the others were assigned to man "rear areas" from possible terrorist reinforcements.

"It was a non-conventional situation," he said.

"Front-line troops had to be distributed to several battle areas. Civilian residents limited the potentials of indirect fires.

"(As commander), my battle site was limited only to what my eyes can see. We had no satellite, radar or sensors to aid us," he said.

A woman presented as witness by Lamitan parish priest Fr. Cirilo Nacorda said she saw Dominguez arrive with an aide purportedly carrying a "black briefcase" supposedly containing ransom money at the time troops had laid siege to the Lamitan District Hospital to smoke out an Abu Sayyaf band.

The witness said Dominguez’s aide stayed outside the chief doctor’s office, where the general had reportedly proceeded.

Dominguez was purportedly waiting for Col. Jovenal Narcise, who was then commander of the Army’s 103rd Infantry Brigade, the witness added.

On June 2, 2001 the Abu Sayyaf escaped from Lamitan using their hostages as human shields against troops encircling the Torres Hospital.

Up to now, Dominguez insists that there was no order for troops to withdraw.

According to government prosecutors, the testimony of Burnham at the closed-door hearing at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig last Thursday gave no indication that she knew anything about the alleged collusion between the military and the bandits.

But Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. challenged that claim of government prosecutors and maintained that Burnham’s testimony contradicted what she had written in her book, "In the Presence of My Enemies."

Pimentel said that Burnham could not say anything about the alleged ransom-sharing since it was deemed immaterial to the case.

For his part, Surigao del Sur Rep. Prospero Pichay called yesterday for a public disclosure of the transcripts of Burnham’s testimony supposedly clearing the military of collusion with the Abu Sayyaf.

"Win or lose with regard Gracia’s testimony, the authorities should take honest stock of their capability to respond to similar incidents, and effect the needed improvements," he said.

"Otherwise Reverend (Martin) Burnham, Edibora Yap and the other victims would have died in vain," Pichay said.

Pimentel also called on the Palace to release the transcripts of Burnham’s testimony.

But Bunye argued that to reveal this to the public would not serve any useful purpose, and in any event the court would decide whether to release the transcript.

"I’m not sure what purpose it will serve but maybe Burnham did not intentionally mention it (alleged collusion) because she already wants to move forward," he said.

Hurairah’s Last Hurrah?

Meanwhile, a top Abu Sayyaf commander escaped, but two of his men were killed and another was wounded when troops attacked their hideout in Tawi-Tawi on Saturday.

Marines and Navy commandos are tracking down the whereabouts of Abu Hurairah, a Jolo and Basilan-based Abu Sayyaf leader.

Navy Capt. Feliciano Angue, Naval Task Force 62 chief, said government troops raided the hideout of Hurairah and clashed with his men at about 10 a.m. Saturday.

"Abu Hurairah slipped (past) our forces while his followers covered him by fighting," he said.

Angue said he believes that Abu Hurairah is still in Tawi-Tawi, and that they have alerted troops in the nearby provinces of Sulu and Basilan.

He said Hurairah is of the same rank as Binang Andang who was captured Friday by Marines and Navy commandos under Col. Juancho Sabban.

Andang, a relative of captured Abu Sayyaf leader Ghalib Andang alias Commander Robot, carries a P1-million reward on his head.

He is tagged to have been involved in the kidnapping of walk-in hostage American Jeffrey Edwards Craig Schilling in 2000. Schilling escaped sometime in April 2001.

Government troops have yet to recover three foreign seamen held hostage — Indonesian Walter Sampel, 53; and Malaysians Toh Chiu Tiong, 48, and Wong Siu Ung, 52, crewmen of tugboat M/L Ocean 2 - who were seized by the Abu Sayyaf last April 11, 2004 off Linkian island near Sabah.

Angue said they are verifying reports that the hostages have been killed. — With reports from Marvin Sy, Roel Pareño, Paolo Romero