EDITORIAL - A never-ending story

Will we ever hear the last of this controversy? The furor over an article in the German magazine Der Spiegel hasn’t even died down completely when here comes a similar accusation from Malaysia. Yusof Hamdan, a 50-year-old businessman from Malaysia, said yesterday he was coming out with a book about the hostage crisis. Among the alleged "secrets and lies" he vowed to expose: certain Philippine government officials tried to get a cut from ransom payments and deliberately hampered negotiations for the hostages’ release.

Der Spiegel wasn’t the first to make such an accusation. Even during the hostage crisis, members of the Jesus Miracle Crusade who had walked into the Abu Sayyaf lair to "pray over" the mostly foreign captives, only to end up as hostages themselves, had made the same claim. There were reports of payoffs being made right at the home of Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan. Also implicated in the purported ransom cuts was the government’s chief negotiator, presidential adviser Robert Aventajado.

The German magazine went one step further. Quoting sources from German intelligence, the magazine alleged that President Estrada himself received a 40 percent cut from a $20-million ransom, with Aventajado getting 10 percent. Der Spiegel said this was gleaned from tapped satellite phone conversations between the Abu Sayyaf and government negotiators. Aventajado threatened to sue the magazine for libel but later changed his mind. His office issued a statement purportedly written by Abu Sayyaf leader Ghalib "Commander Robot" Andang, clearing him of the accusations.

Now here comes this Malaysian businessman with a similar story. Can all these accusers be suffering from an overactive imagination? Do they all have an ax to grind against Philippine government officials? Surely the former hostage negotiators want to clear their name once and for all and put an end to these stories. This can only be done through a formal investigation. But lawmakers are busy with the President’s impeachment, and law enforcers are busy with terrorist bombings. The truth about these allegations must be known, but who can conduct a credible investigation?