Questions

Among the biggest buyers of Gracia Burnham’s book In the Presence of My Enemies must be Philippine military officials. The book is a riveting read, and military officials naturally would want to know if any of them in particular got skewered in the story.

The answer is no, Burnham identified no one, but she left many tantalizing questions unanswered. Who is General 50 percent? Who is "Ma’am Blanco" – reportedly the kidnappers’ contact in the military when the Abu Sayyaf needed supplies? Who paid P15 million for the Burnhams, only to be cheated because the Abu Sayyaf demanded P30 million more? And who was the government official (ex-government official?) who negotiated with Aldam Tilao, better known as Abu Sabaya, so that hostages "Reggie" and "Rizza" could be released at once after the payment of ransom? The negotiator reportedly said Sabaya owed him a favor.

I mention these people because they are the ones who abet terrorism, kidnapping and other forms of banditry by worms like the Abu Sayyaf. They should be unmasked and punished for being accessories to kidnapping, rape and multiple murder.

* * *

Since Burnham, however, has reportedly refused to say nothing more about the book – much less face a congressional inquiry in Manila – we may never know the answers to our questions. We will probably never know who the general was who demanded a 50 percent cut in any ransom that might be paid for Gracia, her husband Martin and Filipina nurse Edibora Yap.

The general couldn’t have been any of the officers who faced a congressional investigation for the initial botched handling of the hostage crisis. Those officers were raked over the congressional coals for the escape of the Abu Sayyaf and their hostages from a military cordon around a hospital compound in Lamitan, Basilan. As far as I can remember, they had long been reassigned by the time Burnham heard of General 50 percent, who was supposed to have jurisdiction over the area. This was around January last year, when only the Burnhams and Yap were left in the custody of the kidnappers, by the time led only by Sabaya. Burnham wrote that Khadaffi Janjalani, his number two man and a handful of others left the group before Christmas 2001.

In the book there is no specific corroboration of parish priest Cirilo Nacorda’s allegations against the military officers involved in the botched operation in Lamitan. But the story is still damning. Since we all became familiar with the identities of the hostages, it’s easy to tell which hostage Burnham is referring to in her story, although she uses only nicknames for the surviving former captives.

She belies Reghis Romero II’s denial that he paid ransom. All the other hostages knew when the ransom payment was made and when it was time for Romero, his female companion Rizza (for whom Burnham found nothing good to say) and a young boy to walk to freedom. Burnham had no personal knowledge of a payoff to the military or of any officer getting a commission from the ransom. But what did the military do all that time, and how did the money reach the Abu Sayyaf?

As the weeks wore on the hostages were freed one by one, or in batches, as ransom for them was paid. The Burnhams knew they were in trouble because American missionary groups adhere to a no-ransom policy. This is their way of protecting their numerous members from being kidnapped overseas. Imagine if gangsters, terrorists and tinpot dictators around the world knew they could make money by kidnapping American missionaries. It would be open season and all missionaries would be sitting ducks.

* * *

Burnham, however, insists someone did raise enough cash to free her, Martin and Yap. The P15 million was distributed among Abu Sayyaf members, she wrote. Interestingly, the payoff (but not their release) pushed through shortly after reports came out that Washington was modifying its no-ransom policy. If paying ransom could secure an American hostage’s release and lead to the capture of the kidnappers, the policy may be set aside.

Did Washington raise the cash? Did the New Tribes Mission or the Burnhams’ relatives? I think Gracia deliberately left out the answer. I’m also not sure about the accuracy of some details of her rescue. She wrote that she was picked up by a Black Hawk helicopter piloted by a Filipino soldier. Unless the pilot was a Filipino-American member of the US armed forces, I don’t think the Americans ever allowed Filipino pilots during Balikatan to take command of any US chopper.

* * *

One final reason to read this book: you will realize, if you haven’t already, that addressing the Islamist threat in Mindanao requires so much more than a military solution.

Burnham wrote that among the back-up guerrillas who came and went as the Abu Sayyaf and the hostages moved around Basilan were youths who couldn’t even read or write. They recited Arabic verses from the Koran without understanding a single word. Some were eager to learn English.

Some older guerrillas complained that they were simply conscripted into the group and merely wanted to protect their families and communities from an attack by the hard-core Abus. Some guerrillas sent on errands never returned. By the time the group was forced to flee Basilan for the Zamboanga peninsula with US-backed Philippine troops on their trail, the guerrillas had dwindled to a tiny band of tired and hungry goons.

Ignorance and poverty fuel religious extremism and banditry. Our national leaders have known this for a long time, but little has been done about it.

* * *

BUMPED OFF: As of early Saturday in the United States, the Philippine government had not yet finalized the list of the distinguished 12 who would have the honor of joining President Arroyo and First Gentleman Mike Arroyo at the state dinner to be hosted by US President George W. Bush at the White House Monday night (tomorrow morning in Manila).

The problem: how to prune what used to be a kilometric list to just 12. Washington had sent word that the 12 plus the First Couple would be the only Filipinos among the 120 guests at the dinner. What happens now to the spouses and hangers-on in the presidential entourage? All dressed up and nowhere to go!

Three Cabinet members were dropped from the list: National Security Adviser Roilo Golez, Agriculture Secretary Cito Lorenzo and Energy Secretary Vince Perez.