Abu escape route blocked
By Charmaine C. Deogracias
KUALA Lumpur
has tightened its immigration control and joint border patrol with the Philippines to
prevent the possible escape into Malaysia of the Abu Sayyaf terrorists as the military
option loomed large in the release of the remaining Sipadan hostages.
Malaysian
Ambassador to the Philippines Mohammad Arshad bin Manzoor Hussein said they are making
sure that the terrorists will not find a convenient exit to Sabah where they have
relatives who reportedly helped them abduct the 2l mostly foreign hostages from the
Malaysian diving resort island of Sipadan on Easter Sunday, April 23.
Earlier, the
government announced it has appointed a new chief negotiator to talk with the Abu Sayyaf
for the release of its latest hostage, American national Jeffrey Craig Edward Schilling.
Press Secretary
Ricardo Puno Jr. said Cabinet Cluster E (defense and national security) named Sulu Vice
Gov. Hadji Munib Estino as the negotiator tasked to secure Schilling’s release.
“Through
Cabinet Cluster E, the government assigned him (Estino) to act as the negotiator,”
Puno said. “He will be the person dealing with the Abu Sayyaf who is holding the
American hostage.”
Estino replaced
the mysterious Rolando Sarmiento, said to be a colonel in the military intelligence
service. Abu Sabaya, the Abu Sayyaf spokesman, reportedly knows Sarmiento and calls him
“Ben.”
In Sulu, the Armed
Forces and the Philippine National Police held the latest in a series of gunnery seminars
at the PNP provincial headquarters in Asturias, Jolo. A total of l00 policemen and
soldiers participated in the seminar, according to Sulu PNP director Candido Casimiro.
The seminars
became significant as the government said it was considering the military option to
release the remaining Sipadan hostages held by the Abu Sayyaf.
Hostage crisis
Meanwhile, Arshad,
speaking on Malaysia’s 43rd National Day celebration last Thursday, sounded a
positive note to the Sipadan hostage crisis, with the release of nine Malaysian nationals.
“The Sipadan
hostage crisis, I can’t fail to mention that, is an unfortunate incident. However,
one of the positive outcomes of this transnational crime has been that the two neighbors
(the Philippines and Malaysia) have become closer to one another in combating and
preventing such crimes in the future,” Arshad said.
Foreign Secretary
Domingo Siazon Jr., for his part, said the Sipadan incident “is an example of how a
crisis can become great opportunity for bringing together two neighbors, making them more
resolute in their objective of working together and building a stronger Association of
Southeast Asian Nations.”
Siazon has always
maintained that the hostage crisis should not be borne by the Philippines alone as it
originated in Malaysian territory and that the hostages were only passed on to the Abu
Sayyaf. The original kidnappers are believed to be based in Malaysia.
Earlier, a retired
Malaysian general was reported to have helped the Abu Sayyaf in kidnapping the Sipadan
hostages. A probe on this retired official was demanded after he reportedly disabled a
radar used by Malaysian authorities to track down pirates entering Malaysian waters.
But the DFA said
Malaysia has not acknowledged any major involvement of their nationals to the Sipadan
incident, and the Philippines is bound to accept this pronouncement in the absence of any
evidence that will prove otherwise.
This develop as
Singapore Ambassador Jacky Foo doubted the Abu Sayyaf claim that they obtained their newly
purchased firearms from his country.
“We have
strict rules and measures for firearms control that it’s almost impossible for our
manufactured weapons to be accessed by rebel groups,” Foo told reporters Thursday.
with Faber Concepcion
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