President Arroyo has rejected the Abu Sayyaf’s "last deal" offer for the release of the group’s three remaining hostages, insisting that the Islamist rebels free them unconditionally.
Acting Press Secretary Silvestre Afable said yesterday the President was sticking to her no-ransom, no-negotiations policy, which she announced during the launching of an intensified crackdown against the Abu Sayyaf in July last year.
Malacañang was reacting to the "last deal" offer made by Abu Sayyaf spokesman Aldam Tilao, alias Abu Sabaya, over Radio Mindanao Network’s dxRZ Radyo Agong in Zamboanga City last Sunday.
The terrorist leader said his group was seeking negotiations with Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Parouk Hussin, presidential adviser Nor-berto Gonzales and an unidentified Malaysian for the release of American couple Martin and Gracia Burnham and Filipino nurse Deborah Yap.
However, Afable said the President has not approved or authorized the two government officials to talk with the kidnappers or their representatives.
"The policy is no negotiations. So it follows that no one will be authorized by the government to negotiate," he said.
Afable noted that the Abu Sayyaf kidnappers have been using the ploy of offering negotiations each time they were cornered by pursuing government troops.
"The Abu Sayyaf is really desperate. They are already very constricted in Sampinit (in Basilan)," he said. "Some of them are trying to abscond and they are being encountered by our forces so they are trying every kind of overture to ease the pressure that is upon their group."
Afable said William Castillo, who had previously negotiated with the Abu Sayyaf following the Dos Palmas abductions in May 2001, no longer carries the authority to do so.
"The government has not designated anybody to negotiate for the release of the hostages, not even Mr. Castillo," he said.
The government has refused to reveal the real identity of the former government-appointed negotiator who uses the pseudonym
"William Castillo." Sources claimed the mystery man is a former military officer previously assigned in Mindanao.
In his taped message, Sabaya said their hostages were "in good health" but denied that his group had already received a reported $300,000 ransom as claimed by Paul Burnham, father of Martin.
Last week, the elder Burnham said the Abu Sayyaf had reneged on a March 13 agreement to release the couple and Yap after payment was made through a Muslim mediator.
The President said the family of hostages should have heeded the Philippine government’s no-ransom policy and desisted from dealing with the couple’s Abu Sayyaf captors.
"I’m sorry that (Martin and Gracia) are still there... But we already told them not to negotiate (for ransom) because these bandits cannot really be trusted," Mrs. Arroyo said. "They were negotiating without the government’s consent. Now they are complaining that the Abu Sayyaf have no word of honor."
Meanwhile, the military said there will be no letup in the search-and-destroy operations against the Abu Sayyaf despite threats by the group that the safety of the hostages could be compromised unless talks are held soon.
Armed Forces Public Information Office chief Lt. Col. Jose Mabanta said Sabaya is only engaging in propaganda to boost the sagging morale of his followers.
"Basically all of these things are really geared toward propaganda, but the AFP would not be swayed by any of his rhetoric. This will not stop us from continuing our efforts," Mabanta said.
"We are now strengthening the security cordon and continuing the pressure on these bandits to make them realize that they will gain nothing from keeping the hostages," Southern Command (Southcom) chief Lt. Gen. Roy Cimatu said yesterday.
Southcom spokesman Lt. Col. Danilo Servando said Sabaya came out with his message because the group is "already desperate."
"There are indications that the hostages are not with Sabaya. The group has been divided because of mistrust over the ransom deal," he said.
In a related development, two Abu Sayyaf fighters were captured separately in Zamboanga City and Basilan Monday as the military and police intensified pursuit operations.
The captured fighters were identified as Kaujira Alom Gadjali and Radam Yusop, the right-hand man of Sulu-based bandit leader Mujib Susukan.
Yusop was wounded after he resisted arrest from elements of a military intelligence unit in Patalon, Zamboanga City. He was taken to the Southcom Hospital for treatment and has been under tight watch.
Gadjali, a female member of the extremist group, was arrested by police in Maluso on the strength of a warrant issued by the Basilan court. – With Paolo Romero, Roel Pareño