Maj. Gen. Glicerio Sua, commander of Task Force Comet which is running after the Abu Sayyaf, denied a newspaper report that the bandits had freed the Burnhams upon payment of $2 million in ransom.
"That is a welcome information if indeed they have been freed," he said. "But it appears that there are quarters who want to discredit the effort of government troops."
Presidential Spokesman Rigoberto Tiglao and the US Embassy said they were unaware of any "fresh developments" in the military operation to rescue the Burnhams.
But in Nueva Vizcaya, the Burnhams’ friends and fellow missionaries told The STAR Wednesday they were readying a "big party" for the couple’s expected release and return to Aritao town, where they had been living with their three children and spreading the Word of God for more than 10 years.
"We are praying, praying and hoping for their release soon," said a lady missionary of the New Tribes Mission to which the Burnhams belong. "Then we’ll be having a big party and you’re all invited."
Sua said 2,000 troops comprised of Scout Rangers, Marines and Army Special Forces have been searching for the Burnhams and Filipina nurse Deborah Yap in the dense jungles of Sampinit Complex, a mountain range straddling six towns and Isabela City, the capital of Basilan.
"What the troops need is to have time, information and visual contact before they can effect the physical rescue," he said.
"This information is no longer new to us but recent letters (from the victims) confirm that the couple and Yap are still in the hands of the Abu Sayyaf, and that bolsters our troops to go on with their mission as mandated."
The military had been receiving letters from the Burnhams, saying that the Abu Sayyaf is demanding $2 million in ransom, he added.
In Aritao, Nueva Ecija, conspicuous in the New Tribes Mission compound in Barangay Darapidap are yellow ribbons tied around trees lining the three-hectare lot, where the Burnhams lived peacefully for more than 10 years in a bungalow inside a government-owned reservation.
Yellow ribbons also decorate the door knobs of the couple’s house, which has been practically abandoned since they were snatched from the Dos Palmas beach resort off Palawan more than nine months ago.
The bicycles, which the Burnhams used in their missionary work, remain parked on the front porch.
Yellow ribbons have been in place at the New Tribes compound since news of the kidnapping of the Burnhams reached their fellow missionaries.
Sources told The STAR the yellow ribbons signify the sympathy of the Christian missionaries to the plight of the Burnhams, who are their colleagues.
"They will be untied when they are freed," sources said.
Rudy Gapasin, a local employee, told The STAR the Burnhams left their three children in Aritao when they went to Dos Palmas to celebrate their 18th wedding anniversary in May last year. — Roel Pareño, Charlie Lagasca