Military believes Sabah kidnap victims still alive

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Military officials now doubt that the five foreigners snatched in Sabah on Oct. 5 had been killed by their captors after troops failed to find their bodies in the supposed killing fields on an island in Tawi-Tawi.

Former hostage Nonoy Arcosel, who claimed to have survived the Abu Sayyaf rampage, has also been giving varied accounts to military and police investigators.

Lt. Col. Renoir Pascua, Armed Forces Southern Command spokesman, said troops and policemen cannot find the remains of the victims in the area pinpointed by Arcosel.

"At present, no dead bodies have yet been found by the combined elements of the AFP and PNP," he said.

"The teenager claimed that he escaped while the Abu Sayyaf were having their noontime prayers."

Pascua said Arcosel claimed to be a Malaysian, and that his identity is being established as there are relatives claiming that his parents are still alive.

Earlier, Arcosel was reported to be Indonesian, but the Indonesian embassy said it is checking his identity.

Pascua said they might use Arcosel to help troops in locating the area where the other hostages are supposed to have been killed.

Arcosel remains in military custody and continuously undergoing debriefing, he added.

Arcosel told investigators he was able to escape from the Abu Sayyaf after pretending to "answer the call of nature."

Arcosel said he ran for his life while their Abu Sayyaf captors were shooting down the other hostages, which included his parents.

"All of us were to be killed because our relatives could not pay them ransom," Arcosel told Catholic-run radio station dxGD in Bongao, Tawi-Tawi in halting English.

Speaking through an interpreter, the 19-year-old said they were told by their captors — whom he identified as Abu Sayyaf — to undress and run near the seashore in Barangay Buan, Panglima Sugala town Tawi-Tawi Monday night.

The kidnappers then fired at them as they ran, killing five, he added.

Arcosel said he survived by running away as fast as he could when the shootout started on their second night in Barangay Buan, where they were brought after being transferred from one motorboat to another.

Two of the slain kidnap victims were his parents, he added.

Lt. Gen. Roy Kyamko, Southcom chief, said Arcosel was spotted by civilians who took him to the Languyan town police.

"Arcosel took advantage of the situation and reached Barangay Maraning, Languyan town where he was recovered," he said.

No immediate information has yet been received as to why the kidnappers killed the victims, he added.

Languyan police chief Senior Inspector Carlito Yantada said Arcosel was first spotted running naked by Tausug and Samal residents in a seaside barangay in Languyan. Yantada said over dxGD three hooded gunmen chasing Arcosel retreated after they saw armed villagers.

Languyan is the hometown of Tawi-Tawi Gov. Rashidin Matba.

Sources in Tawi-Tawi and Sulu said the captives were first taken to a coastal town in Sulu, but later transferred to Languyan more than a week ago, right after some of their relatives started negotiating for their release.

Malaysia earlier said it would not pay a 10 million ringgit (US$2.63 million) ransom demanded by kidnappers.

Ten gunmen using a speedboat stormed the Borneo Paradise Resort in Sabah on Oct. 5 in a remote jungle region on Borneo island, near the borders with Indonesia and the Philippines, and kidnapped three Indonesians and three Filipino employees.

Malaysian officials say the raid was carried out by a domestic criminal gang, possibly with help from a foreign group, but have played down links to the Abu Sayyaf.

The Abu Sayyaf launched boat raids on upmarket resorts in Malaysia twice in 2000, kidnapping tourists and demanding ransoms. –Roel Pareño, Jaime Laude