Abu: We’d rather die than surrender

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Abu Sayyaf bandits would rather die than surrender.

Speaking over dxRZ Radio Mindanao Network, a bandit leader who refused to be identified said, "We are not afraid of the pronouncement of President Arroyo that she will give us ‘the peace of the graveyard’."

Meanwhile, Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr. said yesterday ousted President Joseph Estrada tried to grant amnesty to Abu Sayyaf leaders Khaddafi Janjalani, Ghalib Andang and Abu Sabaya.

Magsaysay, People Power Coalition senatorial candidate, said in an official statement that Estrada issued Proclamation No. 405 "granting amnesty to rebels other than members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front who have committed crimes in furtherance of their political beliefs," before he was overthrown last Jan. 20.

"Was the proclamation part of a well-crafted master plan to make the most out of the kidnapping crises and afterwards clean up the mess while claiming the effectiveness of the government in resolving the problem and freeing the hostages?" he asked.

Magsaysay asked Justice Secretary Hernando Perez to investigate the matter involving millions of dollars that could have been diverted to the electoral campaign of opposition candidates.

The Abu Sayyaf leader said they are watching the movements of government troops who are trying to flush out and capture members of the Abu Sayyaf in the jungles of Sulu.

After two months, we will surprise them, he said. "We will show GMA that our group will remain intact," the leader said.

The announcement follows Mrs. Arroyo’s call on the Abu Sayyaf to surrender or have "peace in the graveyard" after the military rescued American Jeffrey Schilling on Maundy Thursday.

Abu Sabaya, the bandits’ spokesman, has not held a radio interview since the military launched an offensive against the Abu Sayyaf in answer to their threat to behead Schilling and present his head as a "birthday gift" to Mrs. Arroyo.

On the other hand, Col. Juvenal Narcise, Task Force Comet spokesman, told reporters yesterday Army commandos fought with Abu Sayyaf splinter groups as they raided the bandits’ suspected hideout in the remote town of Talipao in Sulu.

"Our troops were very cautious because this could be baits planted by the much bigger Abu Sayyaf groups," he said.

Task Force Comet is the military unit running after the Abu Sayyaf.

In Oakland, California, Schilling told The Associated Press that he went to the Abu Sayyaf’s jungle hideout in Sulu in August last year to clear his name and that of his Filipina wife because Sabaya was accusing them of having an illicit sexual relationship.

"Abu Sabaya has consistently accused me and my wife of illicit relationship while providing absolutely no evidence or witnesses to confirm his accusations," Schilling wrote via e-mail.

Schilling described he and his wife Ivy Osani’s trip to Jolo as an attempt to "resolve a personal, family matter, which was made into an international circus."

Schilling said that under Islamic law Sabaya’s accusations carry punishments, including 100 lashes or death by stoning.

Schilling returned to the San Francisco Bay Area last Wednesday, while Osani remains in the country, awaiting clearance to emigrate to the United States.

Luuk, Sulu town Mayor Rahman Arbison told Interior and Local Government Secretary Jose Lina yesterday Schilling was already in the hands of Senior Police Officer 3 Hajim Timbang when government troops assaulted the Abu Sayyaf hideout.

"SPO 3 Timbang at first did not recognize Schilling and thought he was a crazy fellow as he was aimlessly wandering without direction," Arbison said in his letter to Lina. "He was very dirty, wearing a pair of mud-stained jogging pants, bare upper body, barefoot just like the usual deranged person we see loitering in the streets."

Arbison said Schilling sought Timbang’s help after making sure that he was a policeman by asking for Timbang’s identification card and badge.

Arbison said Timbang brought Schilling to a nearby mosque for safekeeping and informed local officials that he had rescued the American.

Arbison did not say how Schilling managed to get away from the Abu Sayyaf

It was Timbang’s son who had reported the Abu Sayyaf’s presence in their barangay, while Timbang verified the information and chanced upon Schilling. he added. –Roel Pareño, Perseus Echeminada