Captured Abu rebel: Sabaya ordered shooting of Burnham

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Martin Burnham was killed by the Abu Sayyaf on orders of Abu Sabaya. This was the revelation made yesterday by captured Abu Sayyaf bandit Admar Alok, alias Toto Alok, during tactical interrogation by his military captors.

Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Ernesto Carolina showed reporters a video footage of the initial tactical interrogation of the four Abu Sayyaf bandits captured by the Philippine Navy in the aftermath of the military’s encounter with the bandit group led by Aldam Tilao, alias Abu Sabaya, last Friday off Sibuco town, Zamboanga del Norte.

Sabaya was reported shot and killed while attempting to escape on a pump boat by elite Navy soldiers pursuing the bandits on board a speedboat. Sabaya’s body fell into the water during the encounter and has not yet been recovered. However, Abu Sayyaf bandits captured during the sea battle said during tactical interrogation that they saw Sabaya die during the encounter and positively identified Sabaya’s personal effects.

Alok said that when the military began closing in on the group on June 7 at the outskirts of the forest near Piacan village in Sibuco town, Sabaya ordered another Abu Sayyaf bandit, Ibno Hajir alias Abu Lukman, to shoot Martin if government troops got any closer.

The soldiers were steadily closing in on the bandits and their hostages in a "C" formation designed to cut off any possible escape routes the bandits may take. However, the military’s attack formation was not quite complete when all hell broke loose – the bandits detected and opened fire on the Scout Rangers closing in on them and the soldiers were forced to return fire. Martin’s wife, Gracia, was hit in the right thigh and Martin’s body shielded her from the crossfire. Some of the pursuing soldiers stopped to attend to Gracia and ferry her to safety as their comrades continued their pursuit of the fleeing bandits.

Alok added that Martin was being held by Hajir, the bandit who later killed him: "Ang sabi ni Sabaya, pag malapit na ang mga sundalo, patayin na yan si Martin (Sabaya said that Martin was to be killed once the soldiers came too near)."

Alok identified the man to whom Sabaya had given the order to kill Martin as Hajir and the captured bandit said he saw Hajir kill Martin. "Sabaya ordered him to kill Martin. Gracia (Burnham) was not near Martin then and I ran when I saw that Martin was dead" and the firefight raged about him, Alok said.

The bandit added that he could not say what happened to Filipina nurse Edibora Yap after Martin was shot by Hajir, since he had not been positioned near the nurse. Yap also died in the rescue operation and autopsy showed she had been hacked with a large bladed weapon, as well as shot.

Alok also said Hajir was killed in the subsequent firefight that raged in the forests of Sibuco as the Scout Rangers pursued and attempted to neutralize the bandits.

Carolina said Alok’s narration of the death of Martin Burnham was made of the prisoner’s own volition: "On his own, he brought it out. It was like he suddenly found his momentum. During the first few hours (of the interrogation), these prisoners were not talking, but they opened up eventually — even if (Alok) said more than we expected him to — and he spoke of how Martin died."

Carolina added that Alok’s statement confirmed the post-encounter investigation and autopsy of Martin’s remains that showed the bullets that killed the missionary entered his torso at a slant, with the bullets’ paths going upward. Had the military felled Martin, the trajectory of the bullets would have pointed downward, because the soldiers were approaching from higher ground — ridges surrounding the makeshift bandit camp.

"We are convinced that the bullets that hit Martin and Edibora did not come from the muzzles of our guns," Carolina said. US officials earlier said it is irrelevant who shot the Abu Sayyaf’s hostages and that they hold the Abu Sayyaf responsible for the deaths of Martin and Yap.

Another bandit, Hasan Hamsi, alias Abu Ayub, died of a heart attack shortly after the Sibuco encounter.

The military is still searching for the remains of Sabaya in the waters off Zamboanga del Norte to fully confirm his death and there is a P50,000 reward for any person whose help enables the military to recover and positively identify Sabaya’s corpse.

Another cluster of Abu Sayyaf bandits is holding three Indonesian seamen hostage on the island of Sulu. — Roel Pareño, AFP