Hijackers’ stay at Clark confirmed

CLARK FIELD, Pampanga — Military officials are looking into the claims of at least five witnesses that two of the terrorists involved in the Sept. 11 attacks in the US frequently stayed at a Mabalacat resort from 1997 to 1999.

Armed Forces Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) chief Maj. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia said military intelligence would look into the witnesses’ claims but assured the people the military is prepared to deter any terrorist threat in his jurisdiction.

"I don’t think we are under threat from terrorist attacks here but we must leave no stone unturned," Garcia said.

Among the vital facilities within the Nolcom’s jurisdiction are the former US military bases here and at Subic Bay.

Five former employees of the Woodland resort in Mabalacat told authorities they were certain they saw suspected terrorists Mohammed Atta and Marwan Al-Shehhi at the resort.

Authorities identified the witnesses as former Woodlands chambermaids Victoria Brocoy and Lily Mariano, former chief receptionist Josie Mendoza, former security guards Ferdinand Abad and Antonio Sersoza.

Abad and the three women said they were certain Atta had been a guest of the resort sometime in 1999.

Atta was one of the five hijackers who slammed American Airlines Flight 11 into the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York while Al-Shehhi was one of the five terrorists who smashed United Airlines Flight 175 into the south tower.

Brocoy said she was assigned to clean up Atta’s room during his stay at the resort in April 1999, adding he was among other Arab-looking men who took flying lessons at the Aeroclub in Barangay Talimundok in Magalang town.

Aeroclub is an exclusive club of ultra-light craft flyers but allows guests to take "trial introductory flights" after submitting some requirements and paying a fee of P2,350.

Abad said he saw Atta, who was supposedly registered under his own name, at the resort sometime in December of the same year and even once gave him a P50 tip.

"He was the smallest among the Arab guests. He stood about five feet, six inches and his left eye was smaller than the right. He gave me a P50 tip after he asked what time the Aeroclub vehicle usually picks up flyers staying at Woodlands," Abad said in the local dialect.

Abad, who now works as a security guard at a local college, said he saw Atta’s photo in an international magazine and told Sersoza that he remembered seeing him in Woodlands.

Abad recalled that the white Aeroclub vehicle picked Atta up from the resort at least five times and was once brought to Aeroclub by the resort vehicle.

Sersoza, for his part, said he could not be certain about Atta but claimed he was sure Al-Shehhi had been a Woodland guest several times in 1997.

"I remember him well because I flagged his speeding car at least three times at the gate of Woodland," Sersoza said.

Sersoza said Al-Shehhi used different cars and stayed at Woodland on several Saturdays. He said Al-Shehhi knew how to speak Filipino.

He said he learned of Al-Shehhi’s participation in the hijacking of a commercial plane and slamming it into the WTC in New York after Brocoy asked him if he remembered seeing Atta at the resort.

"I am not sure about Atta but I am sure about Al-Shehhi," he said.

Mel Trott, the American manager of Aeroclub, confirmed that he would personally pick up Woodland guests but did not recall anyone resembling Atta.

Trott, however, said he could not establish if Atta and Al-Shehhi were indeed guests of the resort because they no longer had guest records from 1997 to 1999.