Ground troops were set to launch amphibious operations once the kidnappers' lair has been located, announced President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who has asked the military to rescue all 20 hostages taken from a resort in the western island of Palawan and crush the Abu Sayyaf.

"Our mission is to rescue the hostages unharmed and to neutralise the kidnappers. The President has ordered us to finish them once and for all," Armed Forces spokesman Brig. Gen. Edilberto Adan said during a press briefing.

However, Adan doubts that the victims have already been taken to Sulu and Basilan where the group, notorious for their kidnapping-for-ransom operations, have traditionally held their victims.

"We know that Abu Sabaya (rebel spokesman) has a satellite phone which means he can call from anywhere, so we are not taking his statements that they are in Sulu and Basilan to be completely true," said Adan.

Military reports from Sulu said suspected kidnappers were seen in the island town of Mapun in the Tawi-Tawi group of islands yesterday. Troops from the 2nd Marine Brigade were dispatched to the area yesterday after the island town's mayor, Abdul Pata, alerted the authorities, Colonel Danilo Servando told reporters.

Mayor Pata told the military that the gunmen were last spotted on the beaches of Umus Mataha and Buan islands, Servando said. He did not say if any of the hostages had been seen with them.

Servando said two air force reconnaissance aircraft were also sent to the Mapun area, which is closer to the sea border with Malaysia than to Sulu. Military chief, Lt. Gen. Diomedio Villanueva, a veteran of hostage rescue operations in Basilan and Sulu, is personally overseeing the search and rescue operations upon orders of Arroyo.

In Manila, Adan said a special counter-terrorist force composed of Army, Air Force and Navy personnel have been placed on standby at a military camp in the capital ready for immediate deployment to the south for the rescue operations.

"There will be no negotiations. We have to fix and cordon the area and then launch an assault but with the safety of the hostages in consideration," he said. Arroyo yesterday emphasised the "no ransom, no negotiations" policy of the government in the wake of the kidnapping incident.

Aside from the three Americans, some of the Filipino kidnap victims are businessmen such as Reghis Romero, who were holidaying in Dos Palmas when the Abu Sayyaf struck. National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said the President reiterated the standing policy of the government against paying ransom in kidnapping cases as she directed government forces to do all they can to bring back the hostages safely.

Under the previous administration, officials of former President Joseph Estrada became conduits for foreign governments' ransom offers to the Abu Sayyaf. "This will never happen. We would never allow the government to be an emissary for ransom payments," Golez said.

Adan had said there have been no demands for ransom. "We will not pay any single centavo and we are sticking with the government's no-ransom policy," Adan said. The Departments of Interior and Local Government and Tourism have jointly offered a P1 million ($20,000) reward to anyone who can give crucial leads for the capture of the abductors.

Sources in Sulu province said the Abu Sayyaf, led by Commander Naadzmi "Global" Sabdulah, masterminded the Palawan raid. "The rebels tried to strike in Dakak (Beach Resort in Dipolog City in Zamboanga del Norte province) and Boracay (in the Visayas)," the source who claimed to have contacts with the rebel group in Sulu said.