Gracia Burnham due Monday to testify vs Abu Sayyaf

American missionary Gracia Burnham is expected to return to the country Monday night to help in the prosecution of the Abu Sayyaf bandits who held her hostage for more than a year along with her slain husband Martin and several other captives.

The Department of Justice and the United States Embassy refused to give official confirmation about the widow Burnham’s arrival. Sources said that the schedule might change due to the leak to media of the imminent homecoming.

Despite her tragic experience in the hands of the Abu Sayyaf, Burnham expressed willingness to return to the country that had been her missionary family’s home for many years.

ABS-CBN news reported that Burnham would stay at the US Embassy for two days and will testify against the Abu Sayyaf before the special court in Bicutan, Taguig.

The charges against the bandits were filed before the Pasig City regional court but for security reasons, the hearings are being conducted at Camp Bagong Diwa where they have been detained.

Burnham is also a key witness in the government’s investigation into the alleged collusion between the Abu Sayyaf and some military and local officials in the kidnapping of foreign and Filipino tourists in exchange for ransom.

Acting Justice Secretary Merceditas Gutierrez said if Burnham would indeed arrive, the DOJ would ask her if she would agree to another interview regarding her narratives in her book, "In the Presence of My Enemies."

Gutierrez disclosed it would also be the most "opportune time" to present Burnham in court to strengthen the government’s case against the Abu Sayyaf.

"It will all depend on her willingness to be interviewed or to testify in court," Gutierrez said.

The DOJ has yet to release its findings on its investigation into the supposed collusion exposed by Burnham. Gutierrez had interviewed her in May last year in Rosehill, Kansas, to clarify some information she wrote in her book.

The DOJ also tapped the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to trace the US bank accounts of one Filipino official who might have profited from the ransom payments.

Gutierrez said the department reiterated its request for help from the FBI in order to complete its report on the investigation.

Gutierrez refused to give further details about the official but said the person was believed to have had a hand in the ransom payments for the release of Mrs. Burnham and the other hostages.

Earlier, Gutierrez said that based on the report, criminal charges could be filed against certain military officials and individuals for apparent connivance with the Abu Sayyaf.

She said the report would also include its findings on allegations that the military supplied food and ammunition to the Abu Sayyaf, and on the missing $300,000 ransom money that was allegedly paid to the bandit group in exchange for the Burnhams’ release.

Burnham and her husband Martin were among the hostages taken by the bandits in a daring raid at a posh resort in Palawan on May 27, 2001.

Mrs. Burnham was rescued by the military on June 7, 2002 in the mountains of Sirawai, Zamboanga del Norte but her husband and Filipina nurse Edibora Yap were killed in the operation.

Private groups in the US earlier raised $300,000 to pay the ransom of the Burnham couple but later claimed that the Abu Sayyaf double-crossed them when the bandits failed to release the couple after the money was transferred.

The government however claims that the money was part of a "sting operation" to entrap the Abu Sayyaf bandits.

The National Bureau of Investigation told the Anti-Money Laundering Council that the NBI conducted the sting operation on March 13, 2002.

The NBI delivered $300,000 to a "courier" that day but subsequent efforts to arrest the holder of the sting funds and recover them failed.