Bulatlat.com

Dos Palmas: One Year Later

‘We don’t know if the Burnhams are still alive’

Gen. Donald Wurster, commander of the U.S. forces in Mindanao: “There is no incremental approach. It’s sort of a one-to-nothing score. There is no 7/8s of the way, there is no 9/10s of the way. Either you know where they are and you are acting on it or you don’t know where they are.”

By CARLOS H. CONDE

BULATLAT.COM

ZAMBOANGA CITY – Balikatan 02-1 in Mindanao should be over by the end of July this year. That, at least, was the original schedule. But less than two months before the supposed military exercises between American and Filipino troops end, it is not clear whether the objectives of the Balikatan have been met.

While Philippine and U.S. officials tend to describe the exercises as a “success” and that these have strengthen U.S.-Philippine relations, there is the prevailing perception that as long as the Filipino nurse Ediborah Yap and the American missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham are in the hands of the Abu Sayyaf, all the showcase of military hardware and prowess is for naught. The Burnhams were abducted by the Abu Sayyaf off the Dos Palmas beach resort in Palawan exactly a year ago today (May 27) while Yap was snatched from a hospital in Lamitan, Basilan, a few days later.

Gen. Donald Wurster, the commander of the U.S. armed forces in Mindanao, conceded to reporters last week that finding the hostages is a tough thing to do, despite the intelligence and other resources that the Americans “are willing to commit” to the Philippines.

Below are excerpts of the chance interview Bulatlat.com’s Carlos H. Conde and three other reporters had with Wurster last week.

Everybody is thinking about May 27, the first year in captivity of the Burnhams and Ediborah Yap. What comes in mind when you think of that date, especially that there is so much uncertainty now whether the hostages could be rescued?

Or if they are alive. We think about them every day and we are working with our Philippine counterparts to advise and assist them so that they can effect the recovery of the Burnhams.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines has been very effective against the Moro National Liberation Front and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and they have been very effective also against the Abu Sayyaf in terms of being able to defeat and displace them. However, finding a dozen or 20 people in Basilan who do not have fixed infrastructure and who are mobile — that is really a very difficult task and even with all the intelligence resources that we are willing to commit to it, it still is a very difficult task. But we are committed and we think that we will be successful.

Members of the US Marines stand on guard inside the 103rd Army Brigade headquarters in Tabiawan, Basilan.

Photo by Carlos H. Conde

When you came here, did you ever think that they would remain up there for so long?

I would never speculate on that. You try to find something very small that is easy to conceal in a very large area. If somebody does not want to be found, then it would be hard to find him, particularly in a population of 300,000 people right there on the island.

Do you intend then to escalate your involvement so far as the Burnhams are concerned?

My mission statement remains: to train, advise and assist the Philippines, to improve their ability to counter terrorism here and we will continue to do that.

Was there ever a time during the operations for the Burnhams when the Philippine military was this close but had to pull back?

I would only know that based on historical readings. I do know that the Philippine military, on several occasions in trying to recover them last year, has been in a position to destroy the ASG but at great risk to Yap and the Burnhams and they exercise humanitarian restraint on behalf of the hostages. I think that is something that they generally care about. Gen. Roy Cimatu has spoken about that and he very much want the Burnhams to survive.

The problem is we don’t know if they’re still alive right now. The last time we know that they’re alive was all the way back in Thanksgiving, on Nov. 25. We have had indications that they were alive after that but we have no proof if they are. How hard is it to get a disposable camera and take some pictures and pass it out? That’s something that could be done.

Do you have any idea when the U.S. troops would start doing training on the company level, the Phase Two of the Balikatan?

Actually, much of what we try to achieve at company level has in fact been coming to be true. What we had hoped to do was to essentially neutralize the ASG and we have virtually done that. The AFP has pretty much run the ground. You’ve seen them picking people up in Tawi-tawi, one of the Hapilon brothers was killed, and they (the ASG) have essentially become nonfunctioning as an organization. They are essentially completely dismantled and the Philippine military has done that successfully. That has happened without us at the company level. You know, we would have to see what our national leadership would desire for us to do.

There is some talk about U.S. soldiers being a bit frustrated. They came here well trained, well equipped to fight a war basically but due to the political constraints, they are restricted to playing a secondary role. Do you sense that frustration?

No. I don’t at all. And they did not come here to fight a war. They came here to assist and advise the Filipinos as they fight the war. Everybody here is a volunteer. Anybody who is frustrated can tell me and I’ll send him home.

On a scale of 1 to 100, how much of the objective of the program has been attained?

We are about two-thirds of the way through and I would say we are two-thirds all the way through. We brought a large contingent of construction materials, something that’s never been done before. Eleven bulldozers, six tractors. My intent is to finish on time. And I totally expect to have the ceremonies out here on the 21^st of July.

How about the military training aspect?

I would expect so.

So when do we expect Phase 2?

The Special Forces advisers are in fact working at the battalion level. However, they are in garrison scenarios, working with the companies to prepare them to better do their jobs. And if the national leadership elected to pursue lower level operations than battalion, well… Like I’ve said, we are very effective at the battalion level and many of our objectives have been achieved at the battalion level.

Such as?

The ASG are disappearing. They are leaving the island.

But they still exist. You are saying they’re no longer a threat? How would you descsribe them now?

On the island of Basilan, there is now a very focused and continued pursuit of the ASG by the AFP that is being accompanied by American advisers who have access to intelligence and communications. That is now being added by a very robust engineering task group which is improving the road such that the response of the AFP is significantly improved. We are completing work to clean the debris and overgrowth of a formerly unusable runway which would allow them or us to fly directly to Basilan and allow them to drive over improved roads to crisis site.

We also established the sovereignty of the Philippine government in the places were citizens are at risk. So the idea that marginal infrastructure and marginal communications and desperate poverty enable this group of terrorist to hold a population hostage -- those conditions are the ones that we are rectifying. I think we are being effective in that. We are improving the road, put back the bridge so the AFP can reimpose order. The ASG has not been in many Basilan towns.

The problem with ASG is that they don’t have formal headquarters or secure quarters. They have to move. Going after them is an extremely difficult task. My impression is that most of them are either hiding or running. And the ones with the Burnshams and Miss Yap are hiding.

Would it be possible for the Balikatan to go beyond July?

That would be for somebody else to decide. I would not speculate.

The American people expect the U.S. presence here would facilitate the release of the Burnhams. What do you say to that?

I have the same opinion.

But in terms of acting on that?

I can’t go into that. Our intent is to advise and assist the Philippines, help them in their mission which includes the recovery of the Burnhams.

When you came here, did you expect the Abu Sayyaf to shake in their boots and disappear?

I think that would be a prudent idea on their part because we continue to draw more intelligence resources that give us a better and better picture of what’s going on. It would be in their interest to end this, I think.

People would be asking: How far or how near are we in getting the hostages back?

There is no incremental approach. It’s sort of a one-to-nothing score. There is no 7/8s of the way, there is no 9/10s of the way. Either you know where they are and you are acting on it or you don’t know where they are.

That’s another way of saying that the military doesn’t know where they are right now?

If they did, they’d get them because they are committed to that!

So what can you do?

We can help them with intelligence, communications and I would prefer not to go beyond that.

What can you not do?

We cannot violate the Philippine Constitution. We cannot violate the rules of engagement.

Are there still spy planes hovering over Basilan?

We have agreed to share intelligence with the Philippines and we are using the appropriate methods that they are aware of and approve of.

What would you tell the families of the hostages?

That I would pray for them every day. Bulatlat.com

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