Military: Sayyaf leader Susukan afflicted with HIV

Abu Sayyaf leader Mujib Susukan is said to have been infected with the HIV virus which causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a military official told The STAR yesterday Susukan reportedly got the virus from one of the 21 mostly foreign hostages whom his gang kidnapped from Sipadan island off Sabah on April 23 last year.

"We got the report from a reliable outside source," the military official said.

However, the military official did not say how Susukan could have acquired the virus of whether he is suffering from AIDS or only tested positive for HIV.

Susukan, along with Ghalib Andang, alias Commander Robot, led the band of bandits that abducted three Germans, two French citizens, two South Africans, two Filipinos, a Lebanese woman, nine Malaysians and two Finnish nationals.

They later took them to the jungles of Sulu, where they were held for almost four months until they were released in batches after the Libyan government had reportedly paid ransom amounting to over P500 million.

Ex-hostage to attend hearing

Was it plain luck or was it the result of payment of millions of pesos in ransom?

Construction magnate Reghis Romero II, who escaped from his Abu Sayyaf captors last June 2, is expected to provide the answer to this question when he appears before the House defense committee tomorrow.

It will be Romero’s first public appearance since miraculously walking to freedom in the middle of a fierce firefight in Lamitan, Basilan between government troops and the bandit group.

Romero is the owner of R-II Builders, which has billions in government contracts, including the clearing and development of Smokey Mountain, the former garbage dump in Tondo, Manila.

Rep. Prospero Pichay Jr. (Lakas, Surigao del Sur), defense committee chairman, told reporters yesterday he phoned Romero who gave his word that he would attend tomorrow’s hearing.

"We want to hear his story so we would have a better understanding of what really happened in Lamitan on June 2," he said.

As for Romero’s Dos Palmas companion, Rhiza Rodriguez, who escaped with him and a child hostage, Pichay said "we are still looking for her."

Defense committee sources said the construction magnate agreed to appear before the panel but asked the committee to spare his friend.

Romero had in the past denied paying his Abu Sayyaf captors ransom, although there were persistent reports in Basilan and Manila that his family delivered millions to the hostage takers to secure his freedom.

Pichay said aside from Romero, two Basilan residents will appear before his panel to testify that Governor Wahab Akbar was involved in the payment of ransom to the Abu Sayyaf on June 2.

Akbar has denied he had any part in ransom payments to the bandits and threatened to file charges against whistle-blowing priest Rev. Cirilo Nacorda who accused him of conniving with the Abu Sayyaf.

"Sira ulo sila. Baka ako ang magdemanda sa kanila pag hindi nila napatunayan (They are insane. I will be the one to sue them if they cannot prove it)," Akbar said.

The Basilan governor, who admitted that he was an Abu Sayyaf member before the group gained notoriety, challenged Nacorda to prove his allegations.

Two witnesses from Lamitan town left for Manila yesterday to attend tomorrow’s hearing and testify against Akbar.

The House committee has already supposedly received the affidavits of two witnesses during an executive session last week, claiming Akbar and Lamitan Mayor Inocente Ramos were in cahoots with the bandits.

Nacorda, in a radio interview, said he has two witnesses who will also corroborate the affidavits of the other two witnesses.

Meanwhile, Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin said he would be willing to help Nacorda if he asks for the cardinal’s assistance, according to Bishop Socrates Villegas, Sin’s spokesman.

Villegas said the cardinal believes that Nacorda got himself in trouble after he accused top military officials of colluding with the bandit group.

"If he (Nacorda) speaks the truth, it will set him free," said Villegas.

At the same time, Senator Noli De Castro asked the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to submit to the Senate committee on national defense evidence it may have to corroborate Nacorda’s allegations.

De Castro made the request after CBCP spokesman Monsignor Pedro Quitorio that the bishops have tape recordings of the Lamitan siege on June 2.

"Truth could be derived from allegations once solid evidence gives support to them. It will suggest to the committee to invite a representative from CBCP in our hearing so as to give light to the case," De Castro said.

"We are looking into Father Nacorda’s claims and we are ready to listen to the military’s account of the event and we are trying to acquire valuable proofs and data from CBCP," he added.

The Senate defense committee, like the Pichay committee, has been conducting public hearings on Nacorda’s allegations the Abu Sayyaf paid military officers a huge sum to allow them to slip through a military cordon in Lamitan.

Military officials have denied the accusation, although they could not sufficiently explain how the bandits escaped their grasp. – With Roel Pareño, Sandy Araneta