Evangelists apologize over ransom cut yarn
CAGAYAN DE ORO
CITY—In the face of an angry President who called them ingrates, leaders of the Jesus
Miracle Crusade (JMC) apologized yesterday for repeating the claim of an Abu Sayyaf
commander that chief negotiator Robert Aventajado had kept part of $15-million ransom for
the Sipadan hostages and some foreign journalists.
Aventajado
himself welcomed a probe by the House of Representatives, and said he was ready to appear
before Congress.
The government
chief negotiator in the long-running Jolo hostage crisis noted his “clean”
record as overseer of the administration’s flagship projects.
“I
doubt it,” said Mr. Estrada of the statements by JMP “prayer warrior” Alvin
Flores, who made the revelation at a Malacañang press conference.
The President said
the accusation was “unfair” as Aventajado “worked very hard to get the
hostages out.”
“I will never
doubt Secretary Aventajado. He had almost risked his life going in and out of the Abu
Sayyaf lair, and now they accuse him,” the President stressed at an ambush interview
here.
Mr. Estrada lashed
out at the JMC, saying the group had made things difficult for the government.
“They were
the ones who went there, which made it more difficult for us (to solve the hostage
crisis). And now, after being rescued (by government troops) they would say such things. I
think it is not right,” the President said.
Apology
Alvin Flores, who
was among the JMC members recovered in Talipao last Monday, had already apologized to him
during a meeting the other night.
--Herbie S. Gomez and Joel San Juan, Maricel Cruz
and Macon Ramos-Araneta
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