SULU, Philippines: A Muslim grandmother was rushed to hospital yesterday for shrapnel wounds after security forces fired about a dozen howitzer rounds in the hinterlands of Sulu province, where Abu Sayyaf militants are holding three people hostage since last week.
The 65-year old woman was rushed to the Sulu Provincial Hospital in Jolo town by her relatives from Indanan town.
Military officials issued conflicting statements on why troops fired cannons despite ongoing negotiations for the release of broadcast journalist Ces Drilon and her cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion, and a university professor, Octavio Dinampo.
They were kidnapped June 8 in Maimbung town while on their way to secretly interview Radulan Sahiron, an Abu Sayyaf leader who earlier sent surrender feelers. Sahiron’s group is believed to be holding the hostages.
The Abu Sayyaf freed on Thursday another cameraman Angelo Valderama after negotiators headed by Indanan town Mayor Isnaji Alvarez paid several hundreds of thousands of pesos as “board and lodging” fee.
Isnaji said he is worried the firing of cannons could endanger the lives of the hostages.
The firing began at around 3 a.m. and the sound of the explosions can be heard from as far as Jolo, Patikul and Indanan towns.
It was unknown if the firing was a prelude to rescue the hostages, but President Gloria Arroyo has ordered police and military forces to get back all the hostages. More soldiers arrived yesterday in Sulu on board the Philippine Navy ship BRP Bacolod City.
Sahiron is included on the most wanted lists both of the Philippines and the United States because of killings and kidnappings of foreigners and Filipinos.
The Abu Sayyaf selected Isnaji to negotiate for the release of the hostages.
The kidnappers were demanding as much as P50 million for the release of all the victims, but ABS-CBN said it will not pay ransom to the gang. Manila also said it will not pay ransom to secure the release of the hostages.
More militants have reportedly joined the Abu Sayyaf group that is holding the hostages because of prospect of a share in the ransom and the number of the Abu Sayyaf is expected to rise as negotiations for the release of the hostages drag on.
Authorities fear that any ransom paid to the Abu Sayyaf could be used to purchase weapons and fund terrorism in the southern Philippines, where security forces are also battling Muslim and communist separatist rebels for the past four decades.
Alvarez said the kidnappers were also negotiating directly with Drilon’s family, but he did not give details of the progress of the talks.
He said the kidnappers were getting restless over the failure of Drilon’s family to resolve the crisis.
“We don’t know what they are up to and what they are asking from the family of Drilon, but they gave me an ultimatum until Tuesday to resolve this problem. The kidnappers wanted the family of Drilon to comply with their agreement,” Alvarez said without elaborating.
Alvarez said he spoke to Drilon thrice on Saturday and she appealed to him to fast track the negotiations for their release.
Alvarez also said Drilon’s family must closely coordinate with him in their negotiations. “I need to know what the family of Drilon promised to the kidnappers. All negotiations should pass through me.”
