Competition in rescue of Abu hostages not serious

Malacañang admitted yesterday local military commanders could be competing among themselves to rescue the Filipina nurse and American missionary couple still being held hostage by Abu Sayyaf extremists.

Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao clarified, however, that the competition is not serious enough to hamper the rescue operations which are being used as a training "opportunity" in the ongoing joint RP-US "Balikatan" exercises.

"The reported ‘jockeying’ is precisely the reason why (Armed Forces Southern Command chief) Lt. Gen. (Roy) Cimatu is stuck in Basilan to ensure a unified command," Tiglao said.

Tiglao was reacting to a report, published in the New York Times, that the rescue operations for Filipina nurse Ediborah Yap and missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham are being hampered by the "jockeying" of Filipino commanders and the local military’s inexperience in night-fighting operations.

Tiglao admitted that the military’s inexperience in night operations is one of the primary goals of the Balikatan exercises and expressed hope the war games would result in sufficient transfer of expertise and technology.

"That’s one of the crucial aspects of Balikatan 02-1, after several months of experience and mastery of the terrain, our troops have some night operations skills. But that’s precisely one major technology transfer we will try to achieve," he said.

However, he denied the New York Times article’s claim that the military lacks a coherent rescue plan and noted that a plan had already been drawn up as early as July specifying the territorial assignments of militia groups, like the Citizen’s Armed Forces Geographical Units (CAFGUs).