5 Abus wounded in rescue operation for teachers

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – At least five Abu Sayyaf bandits were wounded during a running gun battle with combined government forces in a rescue operation in Basilan over the weekend, police said.

Basilan provincial police chief Senior Superintendent Salik Macapantar identified two of the wounded bandits as Aroh Usih and Ilah Janalin, who, however, were able to escape after their comrades helped them and the three other wounded.

Macapantar said military and police forces swooped down on the suspected lairs of the Abu Sayyaf holding three teachers and five others hostage.

Government troops encountered the bandits who were acting as sentries, alerting the main group which escaped with the hostages, Macapantar said.

“They (Abu Sayyaf bandits) knew the area very well and managed to elude again our forces. However, we believe that they were already pressured because the civilian authorities are now helping in pinpointing their areas,” he said.

The provincial crisis committee negotiating the release of eight people taken hostage by the Abu Sayyaf has authorized the military and police to proceed with the rescue operations.

The Basilan provincial government has put up a P600,000 reward for any information leading to the location of the kidnappers and their hostages.

The hostages, abducted separately by the Abu Sayyaf, include teachers Janette de los Reyes, Rafael Mayonado, Freires Quizon; lending company employee Lea Patris, and Sri Lankan peace volunteer Umar Jaleel.

Three other teachers were kidnapped in Naga town in Zamboanga Sibugay last March. The bandits were demanding P10 million for the release of Noemi Mandi, Jocelyn Inion, and Jocelyn Enriquez.

One of the hostages, farmer Bernard Chavez, was released last month after his family reportedly paid P50,000 to the bandits.

Officials said the hostages are being held by the group of Abu Sayyaf commander Furuji Indama and several guerrillas of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

Macapantar said the gunmen holding De los Reyes, Mayonado, Quizon and Jaleel were spotted in Barangay Mangalot in Akbar last Thursday.

The Abu Sayyaf is also holding hostage Italian Red Cross worker Eugenio Vagni in Sulu.

Vagni and fellow International Committee of the Red Cross volunteers Swiss Andreas Notter and Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba were taken hostage by the Abu Sayyaf last Jan. 15. Lacaba and Notter were earlier recovered.

The Sulu provincial government has also authorized the military and police to launch operations to rescue Vagni.

Officials said they are pressed for time to locate Vagni and rescue him since he is suffering from hernia.

Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner Jr., public affairs chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said there were also reports that Vagni could have been taken to a safehouse by the kidnappers since the Italian could no longer move around due to his health.

Brawner said they have also established that Vagni is still alive.

“We were able to establish proof of life after receiving reports that Vagni called her wife in Italy so this is a good news. We are taking this as good news and this is proof that he is still alive so we have to continue the rescue operation,” Brawner told radio station dzBB.

Brawner though conceded that the rescue operation could not be considered 100 percent successful.

Meanwhile, the Zamboanga City crisis management committee led by Mayor Celso Lobregat also adopted a resolution in a common stand with the Basilan provincial government against the Abu Sayyaf.

Lobregat said they also adopted the no-ransom policy of the Basilan provincial government against the Abu Sayyaf, even proposing to take legal action against those willing to pay ransom.

Lobregat said the Zamboanga City and Basilan crisis management committees would request Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno to allow more military and police forces in the region to neutralize the Abu Sayyaf.

Western Mindanao naval chief and Task Force Trillium commander Rear Admiral Alexander Pama, for his part, gave assurance on the safety of the hostages during their operations.

Pama and his police counterpart, Director Felizardo Serapio, chief of the Directorate for Integrated Police Operations in Western Mindanao, lauded the unity of the two crisis committees for the rescue of the hostages.

“The mechanism of coordination and operation is now very fluid and the protocol in this aspect of operation… is important because we are talking about kidnapping incidents here with no boundaries,” Pama said.    – With Cecille Suerte Felipe