Of the four hostages who escaped as the Abu Sayyaf stormed Lamitan town in Basilan province early yesterday and held an estimated 200 people captive, three arrived in Manila to a warm Presidential welcome.
The hostages have been identified as Raul Recio, eight, Riza Santos, 29, businessman Reghis Romero, 50, and Eldrin Morales, guard of Dos Palmas resort in Palawan, southwestern Philipp-ines. They escaped around 1a.m.
But some 200 people were taken to a hospital and church complex, the military and the rebels said. All the hostages, except for Morales, who sustained a gunshot wound in the right ear, were brought to Manila to meet President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, during her dinner with U.S. Senator Richard Lugar and U.S. Embassy charge d'affaires Michael Malinowsky at Makati City's exclusive Forbes Park.
They were not allowed to talk to reporters when brought to a military camp in nearby Zamboanga or when they landed at Pasay City's Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA). Recio's parents are Travel Update editor Raul de Guzman Recio and Divine Montealegero Recio. Romero is a real estate tycoon. They were among the 20 hostages, including three Americans, who were kidnapped from Dos Palmas resort in Palawan on May 27.
All the hostages were brought to Basilan, after days of travelling through land and across the Sulu Sea, said Romero in a meeting with Arroyo. The President stopped reporters from talking to Romero, who appeared willing to narrate his harrowing experience.
There was no truth in an earlier statement of Abu Sayyaf spokesperson Abu Sabaya that the 20 hostages were divided, half of whom were brought to Jolo, the other half taken to Basilan, said Romero.
Arroyo in a statement aired on television earlier said she would continue the attacks. "The fighting continues. We will not stop until all the hostages are freed. We will decimate all the bandits if they do not surrender soon."
She extended her condolence to the families of the slain and wounded soldiers, calling them heroes for defending their country. She thanked the residents of Lamitan, saying they cooperated with the military and the police, and the press for not getting in the way of the rescue operation.
"Let us all pray for the release of the other hostages, the police and the military," Arroyo said.
The Abu Sayyaf said on radio that they succeeded in getting 200 hostages in the pre-dawn attack, adding that they managed to take over a hospital and a church complex in the town proper.
Later, another report said the group took 20 hostages to nearby Dr Jose Maria Flores Memorial Hospital, also in Lamitan. "It is likely that they are indeed holding some of these citizens as hostages. We cannot categorically say how many hostages have been held. They would like to get hold of the doctor and the medicine in the hospitals," said Armed Forces Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Edilberto Adan.
When asked to confirm reports, Adan said, "At 1a.m., around 50 to 60 bandits from the Abu Sayyaf group descended on the town of Lamitan. "They went to the Saint Peter's Hospital and in the town proper, looking for medicine and doctors. The Abu Sayyaf fighters clashed with the police and the military men who were posted in Lamitan."
But ground troops were prevented from entering the town proper because of Abu Sayyaf snipers who posted themselves on rooftops. The military cordoned off the area around the hospital and church complex.
The Abu Sayyaf and troops moved southwest, towards Lamitan, after their first encounter at Mount Sinangkapan, near a beach at 7a.m. on Friday, said Adan.
