Estrada vows to go after terrorists

President Estrada vowed yesterday to crack down on terrorism as his government sought to secure the freedom of 21 mostly foreign hostages held by Islamic fundamentalists in Jolo.

"Some say we should stop military operations against terrorists for fear of driving away investors," the President said.

"I say that if we do nothing to stop terrorists, no investor will ever think of coming or staying in the first place," Mr. Estrada added in a speech to labor leaders.

He stressed that the "investment climate has also stabilized" following government efforts to promote peace and order and curb criminality.

The Chief Executive said the government "is committed to defending its political and territorial integrity," and will pursue its military operations in Mindanao, the scene of almost three decades of Muslim rebellion.

This developed as the government formed a task force to assist former Muslim rebel chief and now Gov. Nur Misuari of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao in securing the release of the hostages.

Meanwhile, French, German and Finnish diplomats arrived in Zamboanga City yesterday, bringing food, medicines and other supplies for 21 hostages held by the Abu Sayyaf.

The hostages -- 10 Malaysians, three Germans, two French nationals, two Finns, two South Africans, a Lebanese woman and a Filipina -- were kidnapped in Malaysia on Easter Sunday and taken by boat across the border to an Abu Sayyaf mountain camp on the island of Sulu.

Consuls Lars Leymann of Germany, Franck Simaer of France and Marja Korhonen of Finland handed over 10 boxes of medicine, food and clothing -- enough for 25 people, AFP Southern Command spokesman Col. Hilario Atendido told reporters.

The package included syringes for one of the Finns, who is believed to be ill, he added.

The boxes were received by Abdurrahman Jamasali, a government emissary who has been in contact with the kidnappers, Atendido added.

"They cannot interfere. They cannot go there because we are a sovereign nation and we will not allow them to dictate to us on what to do," the military spokesman said.

A Paris diplomatic source stressed that the European Union diplomats were not on a mission to establish contact, direct or indirect, with the hostage-takers.

The French authorities have said all along that they have confidence in their Philippine counterparts to secure the release of the hostages.

Diplomatic sources in Manila told Agence France Presse the supplies "are intended for all the hostages."

"We hope these supplies can be taken by the Filipino doctor," said the source, referring to a government doctor who has been allowed to go up to the rebel camp later Monday to deliver supplies and treat the hostages.

The Abu Sayyaf is a small rebel group waging a guerrilla campaign for a separate Islamic state in the Mindanao.

A Filipina journalist, the first person allowed to see the captives since their abduction, said Saturday that the hostages were underfed, suffering from illnesses and distressed.

Arlyn de la Cruz's video footage of the hostages was aired yesterday on Singapore television, confirming that the 21 were alive.

The brief Channel News Asia footage had one unidentified man telling the camera that they had to collect rainwater for their own use.

"We are getting quite weak," one hostage said. "We are afraid of malaria."

De la Cruz had said that the hostages' feet were bruised from hours of walking and they were now "too weak to move." Some of the captives were wearing only the bathing suits they were dressed in when they were abducted.

A middle-aged captive, later identified as German tourist Wenner Gunter Cort, said "the conditions here are very poor and deteriorating everyday."

The video footage also showed the hostages sitting shoulder to shoulder on a plastic mat inside a cramped bamboo hut.

Atendido said Sulu provincial health officer Dr. Nelsa Amin would check on the hostages and brought with her the medicines, food and clothes for the hostages.

"I hope I can bring back those who are very ill to the provincial hospital," Amin said as she left for the rebels' mountain base.

The trip from Jolo to the rebels' jungle base in Talipao takes about three hours, part of it on foot.

Finland Ambassador Perti Majanen told Finn journalist Pekka Mykkanen of Helsingin Sanomat, who is covering the hostage crisis in Jolo, that their government is also sending a doctor to check on the health of the hostages.

A spokesman for the Abu Sayyaf revealed in a radio interview that a South African hostage had collapsed.

Rebel spokesman Abu Issa told Radio Mindanao Network yesterday that "a woman hostage from Africa just collapsed this morning. Maybe she's tired and hungry."

He did not identify the woman, but government officials have said a South African couple, Monique and Carel Strydom, were among the hostages.

"Many of the captives are sick and hungry," he said.

In a related development, George Moarbes, the father of a female Lebanese hostage, arrived in Manila yesterday to plea for the safe release of her daughter.

Amid rising concern from foreign governments, Manila said it had no timetable to free the hostages, indicating flexibility in its bid to resolve the nine-day-old crisis.

"It is not wise to have a timetable," Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado said on television. "We should allow our men in the field to determine the pace."

Mercado said the government would give all support to its chief negotiator, former rebel chief and now Gov. Nur Misuari of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, to bring about a "negotiated solution."

"Misuari is still the captain ball in the negotiations," he said.

Some sections of the Abu Sayyaf reportedly want Misuari to be dropped as negotiator but Mercado said the government would not bow to their demands.

Misuari said on Sunday that he had yet to begin formal talks as he was trying to clarify the gunmen's demands and their chain of command.

In Basilan, soldiers advanced cautiously on a World War II tunnel inside a rebel base from where they heard the voices of children held hostage since March 20.

"The troops said there were voices from children heard inside the tunnel," Southcom spokesman Atendido told reporters, but added this had yet to be confirmed.

If true, it would be the first indication some or all of the 27 hostages -- 22 Filipino children, some of their teachers and a priest -- had survived a military assault on the Muslim rebel lair which was launched last week.

The military said it had gained control of the camp on Sunday after fierce gunbattles. At least 10 soldiers and about 50 rebels were killed in the fighting, local officials said.

The hostages were seized in March by the Abu Sayyaf, the same group that kidnapped 21 people, including 10 foreign tourists, in a Malaysian diving resort on April 23 and now holds them elsewhere.

Local officials said the tunnel was built by occupying Japanese forces during World War II on top of a 900-meter hill. The Abu Sayyaf has been using the hilltop as a camp for some months.

Basilan Gov. Wahab Akbar told Reuters the tunnel could be entered by a moss-covered hole which dropped some 10 meters before expanding horizontally into a large cavern. He said the troops cut wires believed connected to land mines at the entrance.

Hader Glang, another provincial official, said the rebels were believed to have taken two 50-mm. machineguns with them inside the tunnel.

Wahab also said the rebels may have escaped from the other side of the tunnel, which opens out into a steep ravine from where there is a sharp drop that has to be negotiated with ropes. He said it was unlikely the children could do that.

However, the guerrillas were believed to have fled with their 27 hostages after coming under strong attack from government troops, witnesses said.

The Abu Sayyaf gunmen were said to have scrambled from Basilan to Jolo, where 21 people abducted by the same group are being held.

Residents of Jolo told local officials eight boatloads of children arrived there sometime this week.

MIlitary officials in Jolo told AFP they could not confirm the residents' accounts.

But Abu Sayyaf spokesman Abu Ahmad announced on local radio on Sunday that the rebels were taking the children to Jolo.

In Manila, Mercado expressed hopes that the 27 hostages are still alive.

"Based on the preliminary results of our efforts to rescue the hostages, we've got both good news and bad news," he said.

"The bad news is we have not yet sighted the hostages, and the good news, aside from having occupied the rebel camp, is that this indicates that the hostages may still be alive," Mercado said. -- With Roel Pareño, Paolo Romero, Edith Regalado, Rey Arquiza, wire reports