Gracia’s story

Gracia Burnham does not look like the type who would lie or embellish a traumatic personal experience just to promote a book.

On the other hand, the American missionary has taken pains to clarify that she has no first-hand knowledge of collusion between the Philippine military and the Abu Sayyaf. In her book "In the Presence of My Enemies," she wrote only what she experienced personally, she clarified, including what she was told by her captors led by Aldam Tilao, a.k.a. the late, unlamented Abu Sabaya.

Despite her clarification, few people can shake off long-held suspicions that some military officers – plus government officials – did profit from the depredations of the Abu Sayyaf. If the Armed Forces of the Philippines wants to preserve the dignity and memory of its courageous men and women who died or were maimed or wounded in the fight against the Abu Sayyaf, it should take the lead in unearthing the truth and putting this issue to rest.

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The problem of the AFP is that even before the Burnham case, its credibility had already been compromised during the first hostage crisis involving foreigners taken from the Malaysian island resort of Sipadan.

The public was repeatedly told that the government had a no-ransom policy. Suddenly Jolo, where that first group of hostages was taken by another Abu Sayyaf faction, became so awash with dollars the greenback was trading at rates so much lower than in the rest of the country. The persistent talk was that every foreign captive earned $1 million for the Abus led by Ghalib Andang, alias Commander Robot.

Colleagues told us of ransom payoffs in a local official’s home, with government and military officers getting a share of the loot. As in most cases of corruption, however, such payoffs leave no paper trail. In this country, only a former Philippine president is foolish enough to sign an incriminating document using an alias, and with witnesses to boot.

Jolo is a small town, and word quickly spread of how Robot and his band were spending their fortune. Naturally they bought weapons and ammunition. They bought motorcycles for greater mobility plus rice and other food supplies. They were so cheeky they even tried to deposit a big part of their loot in a bank in Zamboanga. What happened to that case?

Several of our colleagues were divested of wristwatches and other personal items as "entrance fee" to Robot’s lair. The bandits, we were told, had a special fondness for satellite phones. Journalists were also taken hostage and freed upon payment of ransom.

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Hostages went through hell and the nation’s image suffered immensely because certain officials were making money from the Abu Sayyaf’s atrocities. One government negotiator became particularly notorious in Jolo, and he carried the notoriety all the way to the second hostage crisis.

The talk shortly after the Abu Sayyaf raid in Palawan that bagged the Burnhams was that the principal target was millionaire contractor Reghis Romero II. Any other moneyed captives would simply be a bonus. And the talk was that the Abu Sayyaf was tipped off about Romero’s whereabouts by the former hostage negotiator. Romero should be interested in pursuing that story, but there’s nothing we can do if he would rather put the entire sordid affair behind him and get on with his life.

Robot and many others who profited handsomely from the Sipadan caper managed to take the money and run. One reason suspicions about military collusion with Robot’s gang persist is that he has not been made to account for his crimes. The speculation is that the military does not want him caught.

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The total take of Robot and his gang was estimated at around $30 million. Not bad for a few months’ work. The losers were the Abus in Basilan led by Khadaffy Janjalani, who were responsible for the Palawan raid. Their take was relatively small and they got driven out of Basilan, losing a lot of men including their flamboyant spokesman, Abu Sabaya.

But Sabaya could have the last laugh, if the damage inflicted on the AFP by Gracia Burnham’s book is not undone. Burnham related what she went through, what she saw and heard. She said she overheard Sabaya talking to someone he addressed as "madam president" – someone who apparently was demanding the group’s unconditional surrender, which elicited a sneer from the terrorist. President Arroyo the taray queen had to be on shabu to do something stupid like that, unless she was again led into trouble by some clueless adviser. Burnham has pointed out that she could not verify who really was at the other end of the line while Sabaya ranted.

Burnham also related that they received food and other supplies from the military – or at least that’s what the hostages were told by their captors. I remember supplies being sent by the government to the hostages through neutral parties, with the supplies and go-betweens guarded by soldiers. One report, however, said the military had in fact befriended some of the Abus, but only as part of infiltration operations. The successful infiltration eventually led to Burnham’s rescue and the killing of Sabaya off the Zamboanga peninsula.

I believe part of the infiltration story, but I also believe a handful of military officers betrayed their organization and their brave soldiers because of pure greed. Unless someone with first-hand knowledge of the collusion surfaces, however, we will just have to content ourselves with Gracia Burnham’s story.

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FEEDBACK: A reader who asked not to be identified e-mailed me that there are plans to extract more crude oil from the Malampaya well in Palawan. The reader, who said he is a geologist, also wrote that Occidental, the original operator and lone awardee of the service contract, sold 50 percent of its interest to Texaco and 10 percent to PNOC-EC in the 1990s. The pipeline to Batangas, he corrected me, is "subsea" and not subterranean.

The Offshore Northwest Palawan Basin, which he said is the only oil-producing basin in the country, is believed to have been part of the Asian mainland before moving through what is called continental drifting millions of years ago. This could be one basis for the Chinese claim over the Spratly island group.

Lastly, he thinks the Camago-Malampaya offshore field is within the territorial boundary of Palawan.