Posted on 08/22/2002 9:45:17 PM PDT by HAL9000
Abu Sabaya still alive, says priest
ABU SABAYA is alive.
He was sighted a day after Malacañang trumpeted his demise in June throwing a party in Tuburan municipality in Basilan province. He had good reason to celebrate: He is "alive and the group is intact."
Fr. Cirilo Nacorda made this disclosure Thursday to the INQUIRER before he spoke before the Rotary Club of Manila at the Manila Hotel.
During the open forum following his speech, Nacorda, who’s the parish priest of St. Peter Parish in Lamitan, Basilan, repeated that Sabaya was alive.
Nacorda said that Sabaya’s group was "possibly" behind the abduction of six members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Patikul, Sulu, on Tuesday as the bandit group had allegedly planned their next attack in the last week of June.
The priest said that the pattern of the Abu Sayyaf attacks indicated that they would soon strike again after the Americans left, adding that the latest attack came after a period of "rest" for the bandits.
"There is no malice in this. I am simply telling the truth, which is what I have heard. I trust (the source). We have been helping each other for a long time," said Nacorda who was born in Lamitan.
Sabaya, whose real name is Aldam Tilao, was last seen two weeks ago somewhere in Maluso in Basilan. He has not been sighted since, Nacorda said.
The Southern Command had reported that Sabaya was killed on June 21 after US-trained Filipino soldiers clashed with seven armed men on board a speedboat off the coast of Sibuco town, Zamboanga del Norte. But his body was never recovered despite an intensive, three-day search.
The following day, he was seen at a "duwaa," a festivity which locals hold to celebrate something good that has happened while the rest of the country celebrated the death of a dreaded leader of the Abu Sayyaf.
Nacorda claimed Thursday that villagers in various parts of Basilan had reported to him about seeing Sabaya after the encounter and that by June 27, he had already regrouped with other Abu Sayyaf leaders.
Nacorda said that he got the "reliable" information from a doctor whose friends had personally seen Sabaya in Basilan. He added that some of the witnesses were sympathizers of the bandit group.
Quoting the witnesses’ accounts, Nacorda said that Sabaya surfaced in his birthplace, Barangay Balas, Malamawi in Lamitan with a certain Amir on the same day that he was allegedly killed, and stayed there until June 22.
A day later, Sabaya went to the municipality of Tuburan, where his relatives and many supporters were based. There, they celebrated his safe return with a duwaa.
Sabaya reportedly stayed in Tuburan until June 26, although he did not often come out in the open despite the presence of many Abu Sayyaf sympathizers in the area.
It was on June 27 that Sabaya was seen with Abu Sayyaf leaders Isnilon Hapilon and Hamsiraji Sali in lower Kapayawan in Isabela City, the capital of Basilan, where the bandits had reportedly regrouped for the first time since the encounter, Nacorda said.
The Lamitan priest further said that a witness had claimed that Sabaya knocked on the door of his house in lower Kapayawan at 3 a.m. on June 27, along with other Abu Sayyaf members.
"He said that they were discussing plans when they would strike again," Nacorda said, adding Sabaya gave no specifics.
He said his source was also a former hostage of the Abu Sayyaf bandits in 1993 who receives reports from villager friends in Basilan about the Abu Sayyaf. He himself has not seen Sabaya, Nacorda said.
Nacorda himself had been kidnapped by the Abu Sayyaf and held for two months in 1994. Last year, Abu Sayyaf bandits broke into his parish to kill him but they only found his acolyte and driver and killed them.
The Lamitan priest has been in the news lately after he exposed the alleged connivance between some members of the military and the Abu Sayyaf, which is why government troops had failed to wipe out the bandits despite heightened military operations in Basilan.
AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Roy Cimatu said that he would convene a court martial upon the recommendation of the Senate to investigate the three officers Nacorda tagged in the connivance. This was in connection with the siege of the Dr. Jose Maria Torres Hospital in Lamitan where the Abu Sayyaf bandits holding close to 20 hostages from the Dos Palmas resort in Palawan were surrounded by the military but managed to escape.
"We’re really happy. We feel vindicated, although there is also some anxiety because this is just the start of a court hearing," Nacorda said.
He urged Cimatu to appoint members of the AFP who are "independent-minded, well-respected among the military, sincerely working to clean the image of the AFP and want what is good for the country."
"I’m sure they would not cover up every wrong deed. There are still some good officers in the AFP," Nacorda said.
In his speech that spoke of his people’s aspirations of peace to return to Basilan, Nacorda said that he was "not against our responsible and committed military officials. Most priests in Basilan are provided with escorts."
He also lauded how witnesses from Basilan stood "for truth and justice even against the high and the mighty military authorities and the highest local official -- the governor" during the Senate and House hearings.
He also welcomed the presence of the Americans, "whoever can help us in fighting the terrorists . . . For Basileños, there is never a sovereignty issue to talk about or any other issues raised against the Americans . . ."
The Rotarians raised 100,000 pesos on the spot for Nacorda to rebuild his parish which was damaged during the Lamitan siege.
Military says Sabaya dead, priest deceiving public
Posted: 9:21 AM (Manila Time) | Aug. 23, 2002
INQ7.netCATHOLIC priest Cirlio Nacorda was sowing "disinformation" when he announced Abu Sayyaf spokesperson Abu Sabaya is "alive and his group intact."
"Father Nacorda is into disinformation campaign. From day one, we anticipated rumors like this. We respect whatever he says, but we do not believe in them because even he did not see Sabaya. We believe Sabaya is dead," Armed Forces of the Philippine chief Gen. Roy Cimatu told radio dzRH. National Security Adviser Roilo Golez, speaking at radio dzBB, chided the priest for telling "recycled stories that he could not substantiate."
"It's saddening he told the media Abu Sayyaf is alive when he has no evidence. What is alive can be heard and can be seen . . .," Golez said.
Nacorda said Sabaya was sighted throwing a party in Tuburan municipality a day after Malacañang announced he had been killed in a sea clash. Nacorda made this disclosure Thursday to the Inquirer before he spoke before the Rotary Club of Manila at the Manila Hotel.
Cimatu said they received reports Sabaya's brother, who has the same features as the bandit leader, would be made to surface to trick the public he is still alive.
"We received information they would use his brother, who looked very much like him, to deceive the public he is still around. The report we got said that this brother would even use props to make him look like the dead bandit," he added.
The Southern Command had reported that Sabaya, whose real name was Aldam Tilao, was killed on June 21 after US-trained Filipino soldiers clashed with seven armed men on board a speedboat off the coast of Sibuco town, Zamboanga del Norte. But his body was never recovered despite an intensive, three-day search.
Abu Sayyaf not abductors of preachers, military says
Posted: 12:29 PM (Manila Time) | Aug. 23, 2002
INQ7.netOFFICIALS on Friday gave conflicting reports on the identity of the gunmen who kidnapped six persons belonging to the Christian group Jehovah's Witnesses on the southern island of Jolo, with the military insisting they are not from the Islamic extremist group Abu Sayyaf.
Major General Ernesto Carolina, head of the military's Southern Command, ruled out the participation of the Abu Sayyaf in Wednesday's abduction, saying the bandits have split into small groups and are too weak to carry out abduction. "The kidnappers are not Abu Sayyaf. They are members of a local bandit group which happens to be headed by a relative of a top Abu Sayyaf leader," Carolina told radio dzBB.
Sulu Governor Yusuf Jakiri, however, said the group of Muin Sahiron could have "connections" with the Abu Sayyaf, a group that has gained notoriety for its kidnap-for-ransom sprees.
"Muin Sahiron is a nephew of Radulan Sahiron, one of the top leaders of the Abu Sayyaf. It's likely the Abu Sayyaf has a hand in this recent abduction," he said.
Quoting military sources, the Inquirer earlier said Muin Sahiron and Abu Sayyaf leader Khadaffy Janjalani have joined forces.
Carolina also dismissed reports the kidnapping stemmed from religious conflict between Christians and Muslims.
"The group abducted was too small and does not represent the Christian sentiment against the Muslims," he added.
Armed Forces chief Gen. Roy Cimatu said the military has yet to determine the identity of the kidnappers.
"There is no direct evidence yet members of the Abu Sayyaf were responsible for the abduction. . . . Blaming the bandit group for the incident is almost always the initial reaction because we can't deny that most of their leaders went to Jolo for sanctuary while fleeing military operation," he said.
The statements of Carolina and Cimatu follow an earlier claim by the government that it has practically wiped out the Abu Sayyaf.
But even the United States government, in a statement issued Thursday to condemn the abduction, blamed the latest kidnapping on the Abu Sayyaf.
JOLO, Philippines - Negotiators on Friday gave an armed gang with blood ties to the Abu Sayyaf Muslim guerrilla group five days to free their four Christian hostages or face an all-out military assault, officials said.
The officials meanwhile backed away from earlier statements that the gang, which beheaded two male captives this week, are Abu Sayyaf guerrillas.
The military said the gang leader is merely related to a senior Abu Sayyaf chieftain.
The gang "comprised of drug addicts and pushers," is holed up in a jungle near Patikul town on this southern island after snatching six members of the Jehovah's Witnesses group who were selling cosmetics door to door on Tuesday, military chief of staff General Roy Cimatu said.
The gang beheaded two of the male captives, retaining four women. The military had initially attributed the abduction to the Abu Sayyaf, but Cimatu told reporters the group of about 15 gunmen is a separate entity.
"We are giving the civilian leaders five days to initiate the negotiations and convince the group to give up," he said, adding that the mayor of Patikul would be in charge of negotiating with the gunmen.
"I would say the main effort for the moment is for the civilian group to resolve the case in a peaceful manner five days from today."
Cimatu said the armed forces meanwhile were building up a task force to go after the gunmen if necessary.
Four army battalions are already on the island and a separate Marine battalion and a "light reaction company" of infantry are on the way, he said.
"If the hostages are not released in that period the military operations will proceed," southern Philippines military chief Lieutenant General Ernesto Carolina said.
In Manila, GMA Network quoted unidentified sources as saying that the abductors have demanded six million pesos in ransom for the freedom of the four remaining hostages.
Officials say the Abu Sayyaf has been degraded following a six-month joint military operation in the southern Philippines with 1,000 US military advisers taking part.
Cimatu placed the Abu Sayyaf's armed strength on Jolo at about 150 "hardcore" members.
Therefore, this guy, after being shot in the stomach - very painful - and being in shark-infested waters during feeding time, would have to swim to shore while evading search vessels who were pretty much on top of his location at the time. Now, I don't know what reason this priest has to lie, but it seems very hard for me to believe he could swim x miles to shore, quietly while in massive pain and in a condition of heavy blood loss, while evading both the police and predatory marine life at the same time.
Furthermore, after supposedly accomplishing this task, it is laughable that he would show up the same day to some celebratory function when he should've been in the hospital dying, or dead.
Not going to believe this one. Like Osama, if he is not dead, he will show up at some time and make fools of both the Philippines and US governments.
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