The Philippine Front
MATUS, VICTORINO
The Philippine Front Two Americans remain hostage as the war on terrorism looks east. BY VICTORINO MATUS WHILE MANY of us were enjoying our Christmas turkeys and toasting the New Year, two...
...Last June, one of the Americans, Guillermo Sobero, was beheaded...
...Astonishingly, there are believed to be only around 18 members of Abu Sayyaf left...
...This team is now training a new elite all-Filipino countert-errorism unit, the Light Reaction Company...
...Yet, the Burn-hams languish and America must wait...
...Such an act may never be passed...
...Scott Ross, of the New Tribes Mission, with which the Burnhams are affiliated, said he's heard this all before: "First they said october...
...That day also came and went...
...It's not that the Philippines isn't trying...
...But the Philippine Marines are being pulled back and replaced by Philippine Army regulars...
...In other words, there are about 278 Filipino soldiers for every terrorist, and the potential field of operations is extremely small...
...There are fires on the ground that you can't see from the sky...
...They don't like the word 'involvement.' They prefer 'cooperation.' But there could be many more Americans involved in the coming months...
...It's the sort of disappointment friends of the Burnham family are used to...
...BY VICTORINO MATUS WHILE MANY of us were enjoying our Christmas turkeys and toasting the New Year, two Americans spent the holidays deep in the jungles of the Philippines, their bodies malnourished, their mouths covered with sores, on the verge of mental breakdown, and led around on leashes by terrorists...
...Hence Arroyo's compromise: American training but not American troops...
...Tiahrt actually flew over Basilan island, where the terrorists and their prisoners are hidden...
...Then November...
...There are currently more than 5,000 Filipino soldiers on Basi-lan, and the Abu Sayyaf are bottled up in a mere three-by-three-kilometer area...
...That deadline passed...
...But this is all the more reason to send in U.S...
...We'll believe it when we see it...
...Special Forces may actually be able to engage covertly in rescue efforts...
...Training' is definitely the key word," says Tiahrt, but he adds, "I would like to call it 'on-the-job' training...
...Says Tiahrt, "After Afghanistan, this is the next priority because there are Americans at risk...
...The Philippine military is asking for more in the way of surveillance gear, or "target acquisition assets...
...Meanwhile, tourism is collapsing...
...More frustrating, at least one Filipino soldier has had visual confirmation of the Burnhams' whereabouts...
...The Abu Sayyaf currently holds three hostages—the Burnhams and a Filipino nurse, Deborah Yap...
...Under the guise of "training," U.S...
...Then Rigoberto Tiglao, spokesman Victorino Matus is an assistant managing editor at THE WEEKLY STANDARD...
...specialists has yet to be called to duty...
...It's all canopies, and you can practically hide a whole football field full of soldiers underneath it and you wouldn't see it from a plane...
...for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, said the prisoners would be freed by New Year's...
...Americans should be standing shoulder to shoulder with the Filipinos," he told me...
...Keep hoping...
...Besides that, if it were me, and I'm sure if it were you, as an American, you'd hope America would come to your rescue...
...Senators are trying to embarrass her by brokering ransom deals...
...It's possible, of course, that there is more to this compromise than meets the eye...
...It also dispatched an Army assessment team, rumored to be members of the Delta Force...
...role...
...It is now more than seven months since the Muslim separatist group Abu Sayyaf abducted Kansas missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham, along with 18 other tourists, from a resort on Palawan island...
...Special Forces, whose expertise would complement Philippine efforts...
...While it is in both countries' best interests to stop terrorism and rescue the hostages, it is—or should be— absolutely imperative for the United States to do whatever it takes to free its own people...
...But now pressure is mounting for America to be actively engaged in the rescue campaign...
...The terrain is steep and rugged, lush with vegetation...
...Forty-three of its soldiers have lost their lives fighting the terrorists since the hostages' capture...
...The Philippine government, however, is steadfast in its insistence that no foreign troops set foot in the country...
...Washington obliged, supplying a $92 million aid package that included eight Huey helicopters, a C-130 transport, and 30,000 M-16s...
...It gets very complicated, and the Philippine government is extremely sensitive to what terms the Americans use," says a congressional source familiar with the crisis...
...Then Ramadan...
...And just last week, Representative Todd Tiahrt of Kansas flew to the Philippines to meet with military and government officials to push for a more active U.S...
...And the government asked the united States for help in the form of training, logistics, and military equipment...
...The Burnhams' parents and the New Tribes Mission have been lobbying the Bush administration to get more involved in freeing the hostages...
...Philippine Southern Command chief Roy Cimatu had promised to rescue the remaining hostages by Christmas...
...The congressman met with key officials in both the Philippine government and military...
...President Arroyo is not exactly popular right now—even with her own cabinet...
...Coups have been attempted...
...The economy is in a shambles, and things won't improve until the country is rid of the terrorists...
...It's a sticking point in the constitution: To allow Americans to fight alongside Filipinos would require an act of Congress...
...He admits the job isn't easy...
...And the Light Reaction Company trained by U.S...
...Sources say Arroyo dearly wants the Americans to do whatever it takes to eliminate Abu Sayyaf and free the hostages...
Vol. 7 • January 2002 • No. 17
