The family of former Abu Sayyaf hostage Gracia Burnham expressed relief yesterday at the outcome of the standoff between Philippine government forces and rioting detainees at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City that led to the killing of three notorious bandit leaders.
"We’re glad these people have been put out of business so no others will suffer what Gracia went through," Paul Burnham told The STAR in a phone interview from Kansas early yesterday.
Burnham, father of Gracia’s late husband Martin, spoke for the family. He said Gracia did not want to make a direct comment "because she does not want to relive those days" at the hands of the Abu Sayyaf.
"We are sad for those killed and the families that loved them but they needed to be brought to justice. We’re glad the Philippine government is doing what it can to rid itself of these terrorists," Paul Burnham said.
American missionary Martin Burnham was killed as government forces battled the Abu Sayyaf hostage takers during a rescue operation in Zamboanga Sibugay on July 2002. Gracia was rescued after almost a year in captivity.
Aside from Martin, among those killed during the rescue mission was Edibora Yap, a nurse who was taken hostage by the bandits in Lamitan town in Basilan.
A South African man held hostage with his wife for four months by the group said the death of the bandit leaders was richly deserved.
In particular, former hostage Callie Strydom referred to Ghalib Andang, alias Commander Robot, who was among those killed by lawmen during the assault last Tuesday.
"He (Andang) probably got the death he was seeking. I suppose in the end he got what was coming to him," said Strydom, who was abducted with his wife on their honeymoon in Sipadan, Malaysia and held for 127 days in 2000.
In Germany, former hostage Renate Wallert recalled that Andang had been "relatively human" toward his captives — "even though he flipped out a few times during the kidnapping."
"I’m too much of a Christian to have wished him death," she said.
Her husband, Werner Wallert, said he felt no pity for Andang.
"Whether he is in prison or dead makes no difference to me anymore," he said.
The Abu Sayyaf had taken the town of Lamitan in Basilan by snatching other residents and using them as human shields against pursuing government troops.
The group was forced to lay siege to the town in an effort to prevent the rescue of the Burnham couple and Guillermo Sobero, another American taken hostage by the bandits along with other tourists from a plush resort in Palawan. Sobero was later beheaded by the bandits.
Yap, on the other hand, was among the locals taken hostage by the bandits.
In Manila, Yap’s elder brother David Pamaran said he had been bitter over the death of her sister ever since.
He said the government should now have a clear and consistent policy in dealing against terror groups like the Abu Sayyaf following the Taguig standoff.
"I cannot give any personal reaction to that because I am one of the complainants (in the death of his sister)," Pamaran said.
"We have experienced many hard things already," he said.
Joel Guillo was also taken hostage by the bandit group during the Lamitan siege on June 2001. He was working as an accounting clerk of the Jose Torres Memorial Hospital when he was taken hostage.
Like other former hostages of the Abu Sayyaf, Guillo has been "relocated" by the government and their whereabouts kept secret under the Witness Protection Program.
Guillo, for his part, expressed his jubilation over the killing of the bandits.
"Masaya din ako dahil sa ginawa nila sa aming mga biktima at nawala na sila. At saka nabawasan na ang mga Abu Sayyaf members," he told The STAR.
Like Guillo, most of the former hostages and relatives of the victims of the Abu Sayyaf felt no remorse about the 22 suspected bandits who were killed by policemen last Tuesday.
Their reactions to the incident were varied even as officials led by Interior and Local Government Secretary Angelo Reyes said a seven-man fact-finding team is being formed to investigate the incident over possible security lapses.
For one thing, according to Sandra Umali, justice ultimately comes to the bandits in whatever form.
Umali, the mother of a child victim in the bombing of a mall in General Santos City last Dec. 12, 2004, said justice "that comes from heaven is one which is just, fair and equal."
Bong Adam, a Maguindanao businessman whose wife, Ruchma, also died in the bombing felt no remorse for the fate that befell the 22 bandits.
"Mabuti nga ang nangyari sa kanila. At least matatapos na rin ang mga kasamaan nilang ginagawa," Adam told The STAR.
Adam claimed he is even seeking revenge against the Abu Sayyaf for the death of his wife.
"Napakasakit ang sinapit ng asawa ko, magpa-Pasko pa naman. At that time, gusto ko na sanang ipaghiganti pero nag-iisa lang ako," he said.
Gary Canlas, 37-year-old engineer who was among the wounded in the Valentine’s Day bombing attack in General Santos last month, said justice had been meted for the 22 Abu Sayyaf bandits.
"The government only reacted to what the criminals wanted," his wife Belinda told The STAR.
Canlas noted that the bandits had demanded the speedy litigation of their cases while in incarceration.
"They were already given due process as their cases were already litigated but it seems pinaminamadali nila ang kaso. (And so) justice is rendered to (their) innocent victims," she said.
Canlas was all praises for the police in ending the 30-hour siege that began Monday. She quoted her husband as saying the police "did something exceptional for a change" in storming the bandits to end the hostage drama.
A Dominican nun whose convent was ransacked by the Abu Sayyaf during the Lamitan siege said "we can only pray for the forgiveness of their sins and the repose of their souls."
She declined to identify herself since she is involved in community projects in Tuburan and Tipo-Tipo towns, the erstwhile stronghold areas of the Abu Sayyaf. — With reports from Marichu Villanueva, John Unson, Roel Pareño, John Paul Jubelag, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Marvin Sy, AFP