Sayyaf kidnappers get 20 life terms
Pahinma gave credence to the hostages’ eyewitness accounts rather than the terrorists’ claim that they were not part of a conspiracy in the kidnapping, which led to the deaths of five of the victims.
The court identified the 14 as Abdulazzan Diamla, Daud Baru, Ahmad Baky Abdullah, Bashier Ordonez, Sonny Asali, Alzen Jandul, Bas Ismael, Haber Asari, Kamar Ilias Ismael, Marvin Vincent Rueca, Margani Iblong Hapilon, Tuting Hannoh, Adzmar Aluk and Guillermo Salcedo.
In her 134-page decision, Pahinma ordered the convicts to also pay their victims, including the families of those they killed, P50,000 to P300,000 in moral and exemplary damages.
The bandits were also ordered to pay the heirs of Martin Ray Burnham, Gracia’s husband who died during a military rescue operation, the amount of P300,000 in moral damages, P200,000 in exemplary damages, and P50,000 as civil indemnity.
The accused were ordered to pay P50,000 and P50,000 in moral and exemplary damages to businessman Reghis Romero, who reportedly escaped from his abductors in Basilan along with a lady companion and a child hostage in June 2001.
Romero, chairman of R-II Builders Inc., lauded the conviction of the Abu Sayyaf bandits.
“Memories of our obnoxious and tragic experience are too painful to recall but the news of this conviction lends me greater hope for the future and the reign of peace in our country,” he said.
Pahinma said the positive identification of the suspects by the witnesses holds more water than alibis.
“Positive identification prevails over the simple denial of the accused. Denial, like alibi, is an insipid and weak defense, being easy to fabricate and difficult to prove,” the judge pointed out.
She added that the eyewitness accounts of the victims – pointing to members of the group as leaders, cooks, food gatherers or guards of the hostages – cannot be discounted.
The judge, however, acquitted four other suspects, including 42-year-old Satra Tilao, sister of Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Sabaya. The woman is suffering from polio.
Also acquitted were Radzmar Sangkula Jul, Basher Abdul and Abdurrahman Ismael Diolagla.
Pahinma noted the prosecution failed to prove that Tilao was really an active participant in the kidnapping.
Tilao’s mother, Isnaira Kurandin, 67, said, “I don’t know what to feel anymore. I thank Allah for setting free my daughter. How can she be a bad person, she is lame.” Tilao walks with the aid of a female guard.
Rudolf Philip Jurado, Tilao’s counsel, said his client is expected to be released after her papers at the Metro Manila District Jail are processed.
“Like what the decision said, there is insufficient evidence. She was included in the charge sheet on the basis that she was Abu Sabaya’s sister,” Jurado added.
Out of 85 suspects originally charged with kidnapping, 23 were captured and tried, and 18 appeared in court.
Court records showed that on
The Burnhams were missionaries for the Florida-based New Tribes Mission and were celebrating their 18th wedding anniversary when the incident happened.
Fellow American Guillermo Sobero and 17 Filipinos were also taken hostage.
Sobero was beheaded by the rebels as an Independence Day gift to President Arroyo in June 2001, while Martin Burnham and nurse Ediborah Yap were killed during a rescue operation in Zamboanga del Norte on June 7, 2002. Sonny Dacquer and Armando Bayona also died. The other hostages had been earlier released while several others escaped.
Most of the top leaders of the Abu Sayyaf group, which orchestrated the abductions at the Dos Palmas resort in Honda Bay in
Mrs. Burnham, from
Burnham recounted her ordeal in a book, “In the Presence of My Enemies,” which aroused controversy in the
Mrs. Burnham told GMA Channel 7 in a telephone interview yesterday that she is satisfied with the resolution of the case.
“Both Martin and I have forgiven them while we were in their custody. May they accept the forgiveness of the Lord because the Lord has forgiven them,” she said.
“I am just thankful to the government for doing its job to bring peace and justice in your country,” Burnham added.
US Embassy spokesperson Rebecca Thompson said this gave justice to the Burnhams and Sobero.
“The
She said the
A year after the abduction at Dos Palmas resort, the
US-backed offensives had dislodged the guerrillas from their bases on Basilan, but they have remained a major threat and continued to regroup. Officials estimate their number is down to about 300 guerrillas from about 1,000 in 2001.
Abu Sabaya was reportedly killed during an offshore clash with military commandos near Zamboanga in June 2002, just days after Gracia was rescued. His body was never found.
Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani was killed in September last year during an encounter with government troops in Sulu. His successor, Abu Sulaiman, was shot dead in a separate clash earlier this year.
The Armed Forces of the Philippines hailed as a triumph of justice the conviction of the 14 Abu Sayyaf terrorists.
“Finally justice has been delivered to the victims. It’s a triumph of good over evil,” Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro, AFP Public Information Office (PIO) chief, said.
Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor, spokesman for the Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC), said that he is pleased with the court’s verdict against the 14 Abu Sayyaf terrorists.
Encouraged by the court decision finding 14 of the 18 accused guilty and sentencing them to life in prison, Blancaflor said the ATC will relentlessly pursue all cases of terrorism throughout the country. - With Jaime Laude AP, Reuters, Pia Lee-Brago
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