Arroyo gets cold shoulder at wake for RP hostage
Arroyo gets cold shoulder at wake for RP hostage
Agence France-Presse, Lamitan, Philippines
President Gloria Arroyo was given the cold shoulder on Tuesday by
grieving residents of this town who blame her government for a
year-long hostage crisis that led to the deaths of a local nurse
and a U.S. missionary last week.
Accompanied by her top defense and military officials, Arroyo
was taken to the Saint Peter's church compound where Ediborah
Yap's remains, enclosed in a white casket, served as a rallying
cry for justice for atrocities committed by the Abu Sayyaf
bandits.
Asked about last week's rescue attempt, Roman Catholic parish
priest Cirilo Nacorda pointed to Yap's coffin and said: "How can
you call it successful? What is their measure? It took more than
a year, and then this."
The rebels in June last year laid siege to the church compound
and a nearby hospital and took hostage dozens of local residents,
including Yap, a nurse.
Days earlier, the rebels had snatched 20 tourists, including
U.S. Christian missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham, from
a beach resort and taken them to Basilan island.
Most of the captives were murdered or freed allegedly after
ransom payments, leaving behind Yap and the Burnham couple in
rebel captivity until Friday, when the military mounted a bloody
rescue attempt.
Yap and Martin Burnham were killed in the attempt, but the
U.S. missionary's wife, Gracia, was rescued.
Reporters were cordoned off during Arroyo's visit here, but
she was overheard as promising Yap's mother that a hospital was
to be named after the slain nurse in honor of her heroism and
bravery.
Zorais Andong, Yap's fellow nurse at the Jose Torres Hospital,
accused the government of not exerting enough effort for the
former hostages.
"We feel that the abuse she endured was too much. She suffered
so greatly for one year, only to die. You can't blame the people
if they feel the government is partly responsible," she said.
Meanwhile, a Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) spokesman
warned on Tuesday that massive manhunt for Abu Sayyaf kidnappers
in the southern Philippines could lead to clashes between the
military and a larger Muslim group in the area.
MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu told reporters "this relentless
military operation" could result in unintended clashes with the
rebel group's 6,000 guerrillas in the peninsula.
The government signed a cease-fire with the 12,000-strong MILF
last year, and last month signed a supplementary agreement in
which the group pledged to deny sanctuary to fleeing Abu Sayyaf
gunmen.