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.