Besieged Abu Sayyaf gunmen broke through a cordon thrown around a hospital in Basilan yesterday with the help of human shields, but police confirmed that the group had earlier executed two of the 20 hostages it had taken from a posh island resort in Palawan.

The two executed men were identified by Lamitan police chief, Senior Inspector Omar Ajid Dalawis, as Armando Bayona, a security guard, and Sonny Dacquer, a staff member who worked at the resort. Dalawis said Bayona was beheaded. Both bodies were in an advanced stage of decomposition. Dalawis said the victims were found by militiamen around 2.30pm yesterday in Bulanting village in Lamitan, about three km from the town proper.

The death of Bayona and Dacquer leaves only nine original hostages taken from Palawan, including three Americans. The others managed to escape, or were rescued. But yesterday when the separatist group broke through a military and police cordon around Jose Torres Memorial hospital, they took with them an undetermined number of hospital staff, patients and children who they used as human shields to escape, a military spokesperson admitted.

Armed Forces spokesperson Brig-Gen Edilberto Adan said: "They slipped through the ring of troops under cover of darkness, after adopting diversionary tactics and using the hostages as human shields." He reckoned the terrorists were probably headed towards south-southeast Lamitan.

One of the hostages, Janice Go, who escaped yesterday, said the bandits took the American captives and the rest of the hostages to the jungle when they escaped. The three Americans include Christian missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham and Guillermo Sobero, a tourist.
The Abu Sayyaf held more than 200 people in the hospital and an adjacent church, but most escaped yesterday after fighting broke out.

Go said all the Palawan hostages were taken to the hospital and tied together. She said five of them managed to loosen their cords and blend with other civilians at the hospital. During the exchange of fire, she said, they managed to flee to a vacant lot behind the hospital and get left behind.

Another hostage, Teresa Ganzon, in a radio interview, had appealed to the government to stop the ongoing military offensive and allow peaceful negotiations. Defence officials said the military has determined the location of the fleeing Abu Sayyaf, which is led by Abu Sabaya.

"We know their location but we cannot reveal (this) as it will pre-empt our operation," Defence Secretary Angelo Reyes told reporters in Zamboanga City.