General cleared of collusion with Abus

CAMP AQUINO, Tarlac — One of the ranking military officers accused of colluding with Abu Sayyaf bandits during the June 2001 hostage fiasco in Lamitan, Basilan has been cleared of the charges.

Armed Forces chief Gen. Narciso Abaya said he has already cleared Lt. Gen. Romeo Dominguez of allegations of collusion based on the recommendations made by the AFP Inspector General. Dominguez is now the commander of the Army’s Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) based here.

On the other hand, the case of Col. Jovenal Narcise, then the commander of the Army’s 103rd Brigade pursuing the Abu Sayyaf in Lamitan, is still being reviewed by the Army Separation Board, Abaya said.

Narcise now commands the 702nd Infantry Brigade, which is under Nolcom’s jurisdiction and based in Nueva Ecija.

Others implicated in the Lamitan siege were Army Captains Hubert Acierto and Nicolas Quemado, both aides of Narcise, and Maj. Eliseo Campued, executive officer of the Army’s 10th Infantry Battalion.

Dominguez, then commander of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division, figured in the controversy when the Abu Sayyaf bandits were able to escape with their hostages, after they were supposedly cornered by the military at a hospital in Lamitan last June 2, 2001.

Dominguez and the other military officials who were pursuing the bandits have been blamed for supposed "operational lapses" during the siege.

Lamitan parish priest, Fr. Cirilo Nacorda, accused Dominguez and other officials of conniving with the hostage-takers.

Further controversy hounded Dominguez when former Abu Sayyaf hostage and American preacher Gracia Burnham, in her book "In the Presence of My Enemies," detailed how an unnamed military general even demanded a "50 percent cut" from the ransom being demanded by the bandits. — Benjie Villa