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Philippine Congress Begins Hearing on Alleged Abu-Military Connivance
The Philippine House of Representatives began its hearing Friday on the alleged connivance between the military and the Abu Sayyaf which led to the escape of the bandits from a tight military cordon in the province of Basilan.
The public hearing held in Lamitan town, Basilan, would focus only on civilian witnesses, the Philippine Daily Inquirer online news reported, quoting House national defense committee chairman Prospero Pichay as saying.
"We did not invite any military men," Pichay said, adding that accused officers would be asked to appear in later hearings.
Among the witnesses lined up to give their statements on the allegations is Lamitan's Roman Catholic priest Father Cirilo Nacorda, who first raised the allegations.
Nacorda, who narrowly escaped an Abu Sayyaf raid on Lamitan on June 2, earlier this month accused five military officers of pulling out troops who had encircled a band of Abu Sayyaf bandits cornered inside a hospital in the town to help them escape in exchange for a share of ransom they collect for the hostages.
On Thursday, a group of senators flew to Lamitan to probe the alleged collusion between the military and the Abu Sayyaf bandits, who are still holding at least 18 hostages, including an American couple.
The military, while admitting there were "lapses" in its operations, has refuted Nacorda's allegation as "hallucinatory" and "preposterous."
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has ordered Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes to conduct a probe "in the interest of transparency," although she said she didn't believe Nacorda's story.
The Abu Sayyaf bandits first kidnapped 20 hostages, including three Americans, at a resort in the western province of Palawan on May 27 and seized 19 more people in different places when they fled to Basilan. In their latest strike on August 2, a fresh batch of 33 hostages were snatched from Lamitan town.
A total of 14 Filipino hostages have been killed by the bandits, while some others have managed to escape or been rescued or released allegedly after ransom was paid by their families. The bandits also claimed they had executed American hostage Guillermo Sobero, but his body has not been found yet.
The military, which has deployed some 5,000 soldiers in Basilan to pursue the Abu Sayyaf bandits, said earlier that they would solve the hostage crisis by November.
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