‘Sayyaf won’t get away with it’

With two hostages dead and a third one wounded, President Arroyo vowed yesterday to "finish off" the Abu Sayyaf, saying the terrorists "shall not be allowed to get away with this."

"The fight against terrorism is our fight, it is the fight of all mankind against evil," Mrs. Arroyo said in a statement. "We shall not stop until the Abu Sayyaf is finished. I ask our people to be vigilant. The battle shall go on, whatever it takes."

Vice President and Foreign Affairs Secretary Teofisto Guingona Jr., who is out of the country, also issued a statement expressing regret over the hostages’ deaths.

American missionary Martin Burnham was killed while Filipina nurse Ediborah Yap, who was wounded in a clash between government troops and the Abu Sayyaf, later died in a military hospital in Zamboanga City. Burnham’s wife, Gracia, was wounded in the clash.

Mrs. Arroyo is a staunch supporter of the United States’ global war against terrorism, launched in response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks last year.

As part of the US anti-terrorism campaign, 1,000 US troops are in Basilan training Philippine forces on how to better fight the Abu Sayyaf as well as providing other military assistance.

The US military is also using satellite surveillance and spy planes to help Philippine troops track down the Abu Sayyaf.

Last month, the US State Department offered a cash reward of up to $5 million for information that could lead to the capture of any or all of the top five Abu Sayyaf leaders.

In her statement, Mrs. Arroyo thanked the Philippines’ "American military allies for their assistance."

Mrs. Arroyo was addressing a conference of Filipino-Chinese businessmen in Binondo, Manila, when word of the clash reached her.

"I am deeply saddened over the death of Martin Burnham and one of our very own, Ediborah Yap, who were slain in an encounter between our troops and the Abu Sayyaf after more than a year of captivity," she said. "I commiserate with the Burnham and Yap families. It has been a long and painful trial for them, for our government, for our country."

As the Commander-in-Chief, Mrs. Arroyo defended the military, saying "our soldiers tried their best to hold their fire for their (the hostages’) safety. I salute our troops for their forbearance."

Mrs. Arroyo said the government "had hoped and prayed for their (the hostages’) safe return."

"Gracia is safe, this is our blessing. I pray for her early recovery," she said.

Earlier, the military’s top commander in the south, whose troops have been hunting down the bandits for over a year, had vowed to wipe out the Abu Sayyaf "up to the last man."

Maj. Gen. Ernesto Carolina, chief of the Southern Command, said they would keep running after the Abu Sayyaf whether or not the hostage crisis ended peacefully.

"After we them finish off up to the last man we are not going to stop. We are going to go to the breeding areas, to spawning areas of terrorism," Carolina told reporters. "I would like to tell you, getting the hostages is not the end of the operations." — With Roel Pareño