3 teachers in Basilan now free

MANILA, Philippines - Three public school teachers kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf bandits in Zamboanga Sibugay six months ago were released in Basilan yesterday morning, military reports said.

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner said combined police and military operatives have recovered Noemi Navales Mandi, Jocelyn Inion and Jocelyn Enriquez in Lamitan shortly before noon yesterday.

Brawner said the Abu Sayyaf rebels were forced to release the three teachers without ransom.

“They (teachers) were released due to pressure being applied by our forces in the area,” Brawner said.

“This has been a product of the cooperation of the crisis management committee that was formed to address this incident,” he said.

The three teachers of Bangkaw-Bangkaw Elementary School were among those held by the Abu Sayyaf after they were snatched in Naga town in Zamboanga Sibugay last March.

Education Secretary Jesli Lapus welcomed the release of the three teachers.

“The release of our three teachers is the best gift for the worldwide Teachers’ Day celebration which is meant to exalt and thank the teaching profession and not to harm these noble missionaries,” Lapus said.

Their release came on the heels of sustained military operations aimed at the Abu Sayyaf, highlighted by the rescue of Italian Red Cross worker Eugenio Vagni last August.

“This (release of the teachers) shows that we are strategically defeating the Abu Sayyaf, from the recovery of the three International Committee of the Red Cross workers, to the capture of their two main camps in Sulu and Basilan,” Brawner said.

The military said troops are still on the offensive to rescue the remaining hostages, among them businessman Peter Go.

Brawner said the AFP is planning to realign its elite troops to Sulu to sustain the offensive against the Abu Sayyaf.

Brawner said the deployment of troops was prompted by reports that the bandits led by Isnilon Hapilon have slipped into Sulu from Basilan to consolidate its remaining forces.

“We would like to sustain our momentum in defeating the Abu Sayyaf,” he said.

Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro said the AFP is still under orders to implement the offensive against the Abu Sayyaf.

“We don’t have any plans but to sustain the military and intelligence operations against the Abu Sayyaf and their cohorts. We will not waver in our commitment and directive every time there is a situation. This will only confuse the troops,” he said.

Government forces are bracing for more retaliatory attacks from Abu Sayyaf bandits following last Monday’s ambush that killed eight Marines and wounded nine others.

At the same time, Brawner said they are looking into reports that gunmen from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) supported the Abu Sayyaf during the ambush.

He stressed the reports could have some implication on the 1996 peace accord it entered into with the government.

“We are looking into that because we would like to ensure that no MNLF fighter was involved in the ambush of our troops,” he said.

Troops have captured a suspected Abu Sayyaf camp in Indanan town, located a kilometer away from the main MNLF camp in the area.

Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, on the other hand, revealed gunmen led by the so-called Misuari Breakaway Group led by former MNLF commander Uztadz Habier Malik was behind last Monday’s ambush.

Biazon said Malik led his group in attacking the 4th Marine Battalion Landing Team in Indanan in sympathy with the Abu Sayyaf who suffered 15 casualties in separate air strikes by government troops last Sunday.

“Monday’s incident was not the first time Malik attacked government forces,” Biazon pointed out.

Biazon urged the government to take a firm stand and draw up separate plans on how to address the security threats.

“The ball is now in the court of the executive department. The executive department has to do something about the situation now,” Biazon said.

Western Mindanao Command chief Maj. Gen. Mohammad Ben Dolorfino, on the other hand, said he personally does not believe the MNLF took part in the ambuscade.

“It’s hard to speculate on that allegation,” said Dolorfino, who was once taken hostage by Malik and his group.

Malik was the MNLF commander who took hostage Dolorfino and Ramon Santos, the head of the government’s truce panel, at the MNLF camp near Panamao in Jolo last February 2007.

Dolorfino and Santos had flown in to talk on the issues over the 1996 peace agreement with the MNLF.

Dolorfino said he coordinated with the MNLF before the military operation took place. –With Edith Regalado, Jaime Laude, Rainier Allan Ronda, Roel Pareño