| Manila may attempt rescue of
US hostage A new spate of kidnappings by the Abu
Sayyaf rebels has prompted the Philippine authorities to reconsider their policy of
restraint
By LUZ BAGUIORO
PHILIPPINES CORRESPONDENT
MANILA -- The Philippine
government yesterday said it may order a police rescue attempt for a kidnapped American
after his Muslim extremist captors rejected a local official appointed to negotiate with
them.
President Joseph Estrada's
chief aide, Mr Ronaldo Zamora, said that unlike the case of the European hostages in which
Manila had bowed to pressure against a rescue attempt, the Philippine leader had given
orders ""that we deal with this issue on a local basis -- that includes police
action''.
On Saturday the government
appointed the vice-governor of Sulu province to negotiate for the freedom of 24-year-old
Jeffrey Schilling, who has been held captive in the rebels' jungle hideout on southern
Jolo island since Aug 27.
But the Abu Sayyaf, which won
propaganda points and cash from its abduction of 21 mostly foreign hostages from a
Malaysian diving resort in April, demanded that a higher-ranking official deal with them.
""We are negotiating
with the government because we have political demands, but if Erap insists on
vice-governor Munib Estino as negotiator, maybe we should not talk any more,'' rebel
spokesman Abu Sabaya said in a radio interview.
Erap is the President's
nickname.
A new spate of kidnappings by
the Abu Sayyaf in recent weeks has prompted the authorities to rethink their policy of
restraint.
Politicians and even ordinary
citizens are urging military action against the bandits, saying they had defied the
government and embarrassed the country long enough.
Police commandos on Sunday
stormed the hideout of an Abu Sayyaf faction and rescued three Filipino construction
workers abducted on Aug 1.
No-one was injured or killed in
the brief firefight.
The kidnappers earlier had
threatened to behead the three workers if their employers did not pay a ransom of 1.5
million pesos (S$56,500).
Mr Estino said he was sending
""runners'' to schedule a meeting with Mr Schilling's abductors.
He said one of his emissaries
had reached the kidnappers' hideout and found that Mr Schilling, of Oakland, California,
was in reasonably good physical condition.
However, he confirmed earlier
reports that the American was refusing to eat cassava and other root crops.
The Abu Sayyaf's cross-border
raid in which 21 mostly foreign hostages were seized in Malaysia has been a major
embarrassment for Mr Estrada's government.
Pressured by Western
governments not to compromise the safety of the hostages, Manila was forced to negotiate
with the bandit group and accept Libya's offer of assistance, which is believed to include
several millions of dollars in ransom payments.
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