Troops bomb Sayyaf base

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Government troops launched yesterday an assault on a jungle base of Abu Sayyaf extremists in Indanan, Sulu.

Truckloads of troops began moving from a military base in Jolo just before dawn yesterday, following a barrage of cannon fire that shook the area.

Anti-terror task force chief Maj. Gen. Juancho Sabban, clarified that the assault was not in the particular area where ABS-CBN anchor Ces Drilon, her cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion and Mindanao State University professor Octavio Dinampo are being held captive by the Abu Sayyaf.

“It was another regular operation and not related to the efforts in securing the release of Drilon and the rest of the captives,” Sabban said.

According to Sabban, they have not received reports of any civilian casualties in the area.

Military officials have imposed a news blackout on the hostage incident, which is on  its second week, and would not comment if the shelling was part of the operation to contain the kidnappers and prevent them from moving out.

The military claimed they have pinpointed the exact location where the hostages are being held but declined to elaborate for security reasons.

The three hostages, along with Angelo Valderama, Drilon’s cameraman, were kidnapped on June 8 while on their way to a secret meeting with senior Abu Sayyaf leader Radullan Sahiron.

The abductors freed Valderama on June 12 after a ransom was allegedly paid. Officials, however, denied there was any payoff.

Local officials said the shelling started 2:40 a.m. yesterday, hitting the jungle areas of Timahuk and Mt. Kapok in Indanan town.

Local officials claimed five civilians were reported injured in the attack and were rushed to the Sulu Integrated Provincial Hospital.

Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) spokesman Maj. Eugene Batara confirmed the shelling but stressed they have yet to verify the alleged reports of civilians getting hit during the bombardment.

Batara also refused to comment if the shelling was part of the operation to rescue the three remaining hostages.

Westmincom commander Lt. Gen. Nelson Allaga said the artillery strike did not specifically target the group that took Drilon and her companions hostage.

“This is the group that we have been running after since the start. When we receive information, we strike,” Allaga said.

Allaga stressed they received no information that those hit were the Abu Sayyaf bandits who took Drilon and her crew hostage last week.

“With or without the kidnapping of Ces, we have been running after the Abu Sayyaf there,” he said.

Armed Forces spokesman Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres said the military is playing the supporting role with the police taking charge in locating the hostages.

Torres said troops in the area were advised to be prepared in case their support is needed to ensure the safe release of Drilon and her crew.

Not an option

Malacañang also stressed no military operations are taking place in the rescue efforts for the three hostages.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said yesterday’s shelling was part of the military’s anti-terror operations against the Abu Sayyaf, not against the particular group that kidnapped Drilon and the other hostages.

Ermita said he was not aware of any ongoing military operation to rescue the hostages.

“We respect the wishes of the families of the kidnap victims. We will not do anything to jeopardize the lives of the hostages,” he said.

“So far it’s (a military rescue) not an option,” he said.

Drilon’s family issued an appeal Saturday for their safe release.

“We are not giving up even on the people who continue to hold Ces and Jimmy captive. We have already tried our very best to have them released,” the family said.

Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) police director Chief Superintendent Joel Goltiao said negotiations for the release of the hostages were continuing.

Goltiao denied some news reports that communication between the abductors and the negotiators has been cut off.

“There is still a line of communication on both sides,” he said. “That’s all I can say.”

On the other hand, Ermita said the ongoing hostage situation should not prevent the military from doing its job.

“Just because there is this situation, it does not mean other military operations would be at a standstill,” he said.

The shelling, however, alarmed Sulu Vice Gov. Nur-An “Lady-Ann” Sahidullah, one of the negotiators, who said the artillery attack might compromise the negotiation efforts.

Sahidullah, however, said she has not heard from the Abu Sayyaf raising the issue of shelling except for a reminder of the ransom demands.

“As of now I am taking a motherly approach in convincing the kidnappers. I have reminded them like my children that they have also families who felt ashamed of what they have done,” she said.

Sahidullah said she is expecting something positive to happen either today or Tuesday.

Presidential assistant for Sulu Amilbahar Amilasan, on the other hand, called on Sahidullah and other provincial officials to prepare a contingency plan on the possibility that the hostage crisis might spill over.

Amilasan said the contingency plan must be put in place in coordination with the social welfare, provincial health office, and the Red Cross to help civilians who might be displaced by operations to rescue the hostages.

“If the situation happen, at least everybody is prepared and we should be one step ahead so the affected civilians will not panic,” Amilasan said.

Other sectors are also praying for the safe release of Drilon and the two other hostages.

Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles, former chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said they have been praying for the safe release of Drilon and her crew.

Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales, for his part, appealed to the Abu Sayyaf to release the hostages immediately.

Arguelles said they are also praying for the Abu Sayyaf since “they are also humans who make mistakes.”

Arguelles said he is not in favor of paying ransom to the Abu Sayyaf to free the hostages, adding that doing so would only embolden the bandit group to go on a kidnapping spree. – With James Mananghaya, Paolo Romero, Sandy Araneta