Philippine President Vows to Crush Guerrillas

President Joseph Estrada said Thursday that the offensive he ordered against rebels now holding 17 hostages, including an American, is part of a wider strategy to rein in Islamic militants and end centuries of strife in the southern Philippines.

“Abu Sayyaf has never been attacked before,” he said, referring to the Islamic rebels who have struck a gold mine kidnapping Westerners. “Under previous administrations, the military has pursued them, and then politicians complain and the pursuit is stopped. This time, I say, ‘No more.’ We are going to destroy their capabilities.”

Estrada made his remarks in an interview in Malacanang Palace shortly after his spokesman, Ricardo Puno, announced that Philippine soldiers attacking rebel strongholds on Jolo island had located the rebel group holding American hostage Jeffrey Schilling, 24, and were preparing to move on the heavily guarded jungle hide-out.

The Oakland resident was kidnapped Aug. 28 after walking into an Abu Sayyaf camp with his Philippine wife, the cousin of a rebel commander. In a taped statement broadcast Thursday on a radio station in the southern Philippines, Schilling said, “I’m fine. I’m well.” He went on to urge that the “indiscriminate” bombing of Jolo island, about 600 miles south of Manila, be called off and negotiations for the release of the hostages resumed.

With the Philippine military engaged in a full-scale assault on Jolo, one rebel leader, Ghalib Andang, who calls himself Commander Robot, wrote Estrada that he wanted to repent and lead a peaceful life. Another rebel leader, Abu Sabaya, said via satellite phone that he was willing to negotiate.

But Estrada on Thursday rejected their offers and vowed to press on with the attack. His stance put the rebels in an untenable position, with only one bargaining chip: the hostages.

“There’s only one way to get off Jolo now: to swim,” said Gov. Sakur Tan of Sulu province.

The Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, who claim to be fighting for an independent Islamic state, also are holding a Philippine diving instructor, three Malaysians and 12 Philippine Christian “prayer warriors.” The evangelists paid Abu Sayyaf $3,500 and 20 bags of rice as a fee to enter a rebel camp and were taken hostage when they had nothing left for an exit fee.

Abu Sayyaf has long been in the kidnap business and commonly received a few hundred dollars for the release of a Philippine national. But the group hit an unexpected jackpot in April when it seized 21 hostages--most of them foreigners--from a Malaysian resort island and brought them to Jolo. Over the past three months, the ragtag band of peasant guerrillas has collected $15 million in ransom--in addition to thousands of dollars from journalists willing to pay for interviews with the hostages.

The interview business became so brisk that the rebels set what looked like a menu board against the hut where hostages lived. At the top, in capital letters, were the words, “LOOK ONLY.” What followed were prices for a variety of opportunities: video only, still photo, interview with no pictures, interview for print reporters.

“My patience ran out after they kidnapped the three Malaysians a day after releasing the four Westerners,” Estrada said Thursday, referring to the final four Westerners released from the group kidnapped in April. “This crisis has brought great damage to the Philippines’ image. It scared off foreign investors and tourists. We tried negotiations. The situation could not be allowed to go on forever.

“Personally, I don’t think I can talk peace with the Abu Sayyaf. They are nothing but bandits and criminals. My feeling is, we will save most of the hostages. But just the release of Schilling will not bring a cease-fire.”

However, Estrada did not completely close the door to a peaceful settlement, saying that if all the hostages are released, there may be a basis for talks.

After the Abu Sayyaf crisis is resolved, Estrada said, his generals will act to rid Mindanao--the major island in the predominantly Muslim southern Philippines--of “all bandits and thieves.” The southern islands for centuries have been the home of secessionist movements, anti-government strife and insurrections. The rest of the Philippines is largely Roman Catholic.

“The cycle of violence has gone on for 400 years, and I’m going to break it,” he said. “The first thing will be the surrender of all illegal firearms. The military will go town to town. I’m going to do what I promised in the election--turn Mindanao into the breadbasket of the Philippines. Just watch. It will happen. Give me until December.”

Abu Sayyaf represents a relatively minor threat to the southern Philippines’ stability, and Estrada said he expects the military operation on Jolo island to end by next week. Abu Sayyaf has only about 200 well-trained guerrillas, but, flush with ransom money, the group has recruited as many as 2,000 young mercenaries.

A much bigger threat is posed by the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front, which Estrada ordered attacked in May despite opposition from the Catholic Church and many political groups. The army overran a dozen rebel camps--one, Abu Bakr, had a munitions factory and dormitories for new recruits--and greatly reduced the front’s military capabilities.

This time, in taking on the widely criticized Abu Sayyaf, Estrada has solid support. His popularity ratings had been sinking as a result of the nation’s fragile economy and charges of corruption and cronyism in the government, but they soared after he went on television Saturday wearing a bomber jacket and said an invasion of Jolo island was underway to rescue the hostages and “neutralize” Abu Sayyaf because “enough is enough.”

“This was Estrada the movie star at his best,” political analyst Alexander Magno said of the man who starred in more than 100 action films, usually playing a heroic underdog, before winning election. “Nose bloodied, back to the wall, his patience run out, he sets out against evil. If Abu Sayyaf wasn’t there, he would have had to invent it for his ratings.”