EDITORIAL – In search of vindication

American missionary Gracia Burnham has clarified that she has no first-hand knowledge of collusion between her former Abu Sayyaf captors and some officers in the Philippine military. The soldiers were the good guys, she said, who did their best to rescue her as well as her husband Martin and Filipina nurse Edibora Yap from their captors. She thanked the AFP and paid tribute to the soldiers who lost their lives in the rescue effort.

Burnham created a firestorm in this country when she related in her book "In the Presence of My Enemies" that a military general had demanded a 50 percent cut in any ransom that might be paid for her and the other hostages. She also wrote that the guerrillas received food and other items from the military. Later, she clarified that she wrote only what she saw or was told by the Abu Sayyaf.

Because of her clarifications, re-opening the investigation into similar allegations of collusion between the Abu Sayyaf and the military is bound to have inconclusive results. There will be no closure to this story, as President Arroyo reportedly wants; the Armed Forces of the Philippines will continue to live under the shadow of doubt that some of its top officers were in cahoots with a band of kidnappers.

But there is a way for the AFP to vindicate itself, and that is to neutralize this threat once and for all. The military exercises between Philippine and American troops last year destroyed the Abu Sayyaf’s terrorist grip on Basilan and drove the guerrillas away from their stronghold. This showed that with a combination of relentless military operations and development programs that improve economic conditions in predominantly Muslim communities, it is possible to neutralize the Abu Sayyaf threat.

The guerrillas have to be kept constantly on the run while the government brings development to neglected areas. Once people experience the dividends of peace, they will have more impetus to preserve it. The Abu Sayyaf has sown terror for nearly a decade. It’s time for the AFP to stop this scourge.