Deborah married to Sayyaf leader?

Top military officials said yesterday they have received reports that kidnapped Filipino nurse Deborah Yap has married one of her captors, Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon, in Muslim rites in the jungles of Basilan.

Yap is believed to be suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, a condition in which a kidnap victim sympathizes with his or her captors. She was snatched from the Dr. Jose Torres Hospital in Lamitan town in Basilan as the Islamist rebels fled intensified military operations on June 2 last year.

Col. Alexander Aleo, commander of the Army’s 103rd Brigade, said his unit received the information from arrested Abu Sayyaf leaders who underwent tactical interrogation earlier this week.

Aleo said information obtained from the captured Abu Sayyaf leaders indicated that Yap opted to marry Hapilon instead of risking rape at the hands of her other kidnappers.

"That is the report we received from the field. They (female hostages) have no choice left," he added. These reports reaching the military point to the brutal conditions under which the Sayyaf hostages, particularly the women, are forced to live.

However, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman Col. Jose Mabanta said the information that Yap has wed Hapilon comes from "raw reports" received by the military in February of this year.

"These are just raw reports that have to be confirmed," Mabanta said, adding that "we need to confirm one report with two or more (similar) reports. In the same manner, reports coming in about the condition of the Burnham couple are also raw reports."

Mabanta added that these reports, while considered raw, are not taken lightly by the military. He said these raw reports may give the military "a bigger picture of what is happening in Basilan."

Earlier reports said Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadafy Janjalani married another kidnapped nurse, Reina Malonzo, in Muslim rites and that Malonzo is now pregnant with Janjalani’s child. Military reports also said Malonzo is suffering from Stockholm Syndrome as well. She recently evaded pursuing military personnel in Zamboanga City.

In another development, Aleo said the Abu Sayyaf has decided to split into two groups and separate kidnapped American missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham. Aleo said Hapilon’s group still has the Burnham couple, but has put them in separate camps to better evade the military’s pursuit and rescue operations.

Mabanta, meanwhile, said unconfirmed reports on the Burnham couple’s frail physical condition could be part of the psychological warfare propagated by the kidnappers to ensure the bandits have a bargaining chip for negotiating with the government.

He said the ASG "steps up its propaganda" when there are no skirmishes between them and the military in Basilan. "In the next few days, we will be receiving a lot of propaganda from the Abu Sayyaf," he added.

Aleo said the reports dispatched by the Abu Sayyaf are part of the bandit group’s psywar strategy. Aldam Tilao, alias Abu Sabaya, announced earlier that Martin Burnham is "physically weak" and is now being transported on a stretcher due to a steadily worsening malaria infection.

"It (the announcement of Martin Burnham’s illness) is part of Abu Sayyaf psywar so that Abu Sabaya can insist to negotiate more," Aleo said. However, the military remains firm in its resolve to rescue the Filipino and American hostages still in the bandits’ hands.

Aleo also said the Burnham couple has been "sighted" several times during military encounters with the bandit group.

"They are deteriorating," Aleo said, adding that "their sources of support have been blocked and they cannot easily get to their supplies."

At least four Abu Sayyaf leaders were caught in recent joint military-police operations this week, including Nur Mohammed Umog. Umog spearheaded the bandits’ extortion activities in the South Cotabato-Sarangani-General Santos (Socsargen) area, the bandit group’s main source of funds.

Aleo has assured the Burnham family that the military has always prioritized the safety of the hostages held captive by the Abu Sayyaf when engaging the bandits in skirmishes and pursuit operations.