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Abu Sayyaf Hostage Crisis

Rangers, Not US-Trained Troops, Figured in 'Rescue' Fight

There was no way the Light Reaction Company (LRC) -- whom the U.S. Special Forces trained for counter-terrorism -- could have made it to the battle scene as they were several kilometers away. It was the local Rangers who engaged the Abu Sayyaf in a firefight. Yet, Brig. Gen. Donald Wurster, the American commander of the Balikatan, declared on Saturday morning: "It was definitely a Philippine operation. It was obvious that all we have taught them was put to good use."

By Carlos H. Conde

Bulatlat.com

ZAMBOANGA CITY - The operation that ended, albeit tragically, the ordeal of American missionaries Martin and Gracia Burnham and Filipino nurse Ediborah Yap, who were held hostage by the Abu Sayyaf for more than a year, was a combination of luck, grit and the United States' involvement in what has come to be known as Operation Daybreak.

Although U.S. officials maintain that the American involvement in Operation Daybreak was limited to lending technical support (intelligence and communications, for example), the U.S. military was close to the action. So close, in fact, that, according to senior Philippine military officials, some American soldiers were stationed in the command post of the Task Force Comet in Sirawai, Zamboanga del Norte. The encounter on Friday occurred between the boundaries of Sirawai and Sibuco town. "They (the Americans) were there coordinating and lending support," one official said.

Brig. Gen. Donald Wurster, the American commander of the Balikatan, declared on Saturday morning: "It was definitely a Philippine operation. It was obvious that all we have taught them was put to good use."

Scout Ranger Sgt. Rodney Magbanua shows the

Wounded Personnel Medal he got for his role in the rescue operation.

Seven of Magbanua's men were injured in the encounter.

PHOTO BY CARLOS CONDE

Indeed, the shift of the operations from Basilan, originally the lair of the bandits, to Zamboanga del Norte was done mainly through the intelligence gathering of the Americans. As early as March 30, the Southern Command had learned, through reports on the ground, that the Abu Sayyaf, their hostages in tow, was already in the jungles of Zamboanga del Norte.

It was not until about two weeks ago - after U.S. intelligence equipment such as spy planes and eavesdropping equipment pinpointed the location of the bandits -- that the military launched Operation Daybreak, led by Maj. Gen. Glycerio Sua, the commander of the Task Force Comet that was formed to go after the Abu Sayyaf. By May 27, members of the Philippine Marines, the Light Reaction Company and the Scout Rangers were already patrolling the mountains of Sibuco and Sirawai. Two days later, an encounter occurred in two villages in Sirawai which the troops had raided after receiving reports of Abu Sayyaf presence. By May 29, majority of the Marines and the Scout Rangers in Basilan were pulled out and deployed to Zamboanga del Norte.

The 15th Scout Ranger Company was one of about six companies, including the much-vaunted LRC, that were patrolling Zamboanga del Norte and its nearby areas. Military officials had said that the Abu Sayyaf got wind of the strong presence of the troops and decided to go up north but they were blocked too by the sudden presence of the troops.

Constantly mobile

The deployment proved advantageous to the military because it forced the Abu Sayyaf to be constantly mobile. When the encounter happened last Friday, Mrs. Burnham told the rescuing soldiers that they had not eaten for nine days, indicating that the pressure of the troop presence was working. The pressure also made the Abu Sayyaf not only tired but careless, ignoring the pieces of candy wrappers, coconut meat and jackfruit peelings that the hostages seemed to have deliberately left behind their trail, perhaps thinking that that could help the soldiers track them down.

The team led by Sgt. Rodney Magbanua, a 27-year-old Scout Ranger from Tagum City, had been on patrol on the boundary of Sibuco and Sirawai towns for six straight days, after arriving in Zamboanga del Norte from Cabunbata in Basilan on May 29. On the sixth day (June 7), at around 5 a.m., they noticed footprints on a trail near the clearing where the Scout Rangers had spent the night. "Apparently, the ASG didn't know that we were in the area. We also didn't know at first that the footmarks were theirs," he said.

An hour later, his team was already following the trail. Candy wrappers, half-eaten coconut meat and other foodstuff, according to Magbanua, helped them in pursuing the trail. It was raining hard, which made the task of following the trail a little more difficult, he says.

At noontime -- around 12:30, he said - Magbanua and his men were having lunch, not knowing that the bandits and the hostages were right below them, by a creek. When they realized this ("There were about 30 of them, fully armed," he said), the Rangers cut short their lunch and crawled stealthily to the Abu Sayyaf's position. They came to about 15 meters away from the kidnappers. "We saw their fixed tents, about three of these," he said. Apparently, the heavy rain forced the bandits to stop and pitch their tents, thus enabling the Rangers to catch up with them.

Exchange of fire

Magbanua gave the order for his men, which now included Team Two of the 15th Scout Rangers Company, to fan out, but the jungle made the task difficult, so that they took a little time doing it. They were at this when one Abu Sayyaf member saw them and fired his M14 rifle. Immediately, the Scout Rangers fired back. The other Abu Sayyaf responded with fires of M203 grenades, wounding seven of Magbanua's men, including himself. The Abu Sayyaf, he said, then scampered away, some along the creek, others to the hill but away from the soldiers.

It was when the smoke cleared that they realized the hostages were with the Abu Sayyaf. "I saw Gracia on top of the body of Martin, weeping, shouting, 'Help! Help!' Ediborah Yap was five meters away, by the creek, wounded and dying," Magbanua said.

Basilan residents pay their last respects to slain Filipino hostage Ediborah Yap

inside St. Peter's Church in Lamitan Photo by Bullit Maquez/AP

Gracia was wearing black sweatshirts and black pajama-like pants. Corporal Rodelio Tuazon, who administered First Aid on Mrs. Burnham, tore Gracia's pants and used a portion of it to tie her thigh. He also put cotton on the wound. While this was happening, Gracia asked them: "Who are you?" The soldiers showed their insignia. Gracia then exclaimed: "For one year, I have been with the bad guys. Now I am with the good guys. Don't leave me behind."

They wrapped Gracia with a malong and put her on an improvised stretcher fashioned out of their uniforms. Gracia then asked whether the soldiers had seen Abu Sabaya. She pointed to another tent where Sabaya had been but Tuazon didn't find anybody.

Magbanua said they were forced to engage the bandits because, according to him, it would have been costly for them if they did not. "Had we decided to move out, we could have been spotted nonetheless, and that would have been a mistake because the Abu Sayyaf had more cover by the creek than we had. They had huge rocks as cover, and we were right above them, on a hilly portion by the creek," he said.

Asked if they were there to do an actual rescue, he said no. "We were merely on patrol. We didn't know that it was them. It was just pure chance," Magbanua said.

After the firefight, they radioed the 10th Scout Rangers Company for reinforcement, which arrived 30 minutes later. "The LRC was very far from where we were. There was no way they could have responded," he said.

When asked if there was ever an instruction that the LRC should be summoned if the Scout Rangers had spotted the ASG, Magbanua said there was no such instruction. "We were trained to get them if we have the chance. If the Abu Sayyaf did not see us, we could have moved into position and things would have been different. But our position was compromised," he said.

U.S.-trained

The LRC is a U.S.-trained company of Filipino soldiers, each equipped with P1 million worth of M4 rifle, telescopic lens, night vision goggles and sophisticated headsets for communications. They are supposed to be not as mobile as the Scout Rangers, who are supposed to be sent in to clear the coast for the LRC, which would then do the actual rescue.

But last Friday, the LRC was too far away it would take a day's trek to go there. That's why the Scout Rangers were the ones that engaged, said Maj. Gen. Ernesto Carolina, the commander of the Southern Command.

Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Roy Cimatu, who, as Southcom chief, led the planning of Operation Daybreak, said the Scout Rangers' task was to locate the bandits and, after they are located, the LRC will be deployed. "In this case, that did not happen. We didn't have that luxury," he told reporters in Zamboanga City on Saturday.

Would it have made any difference had the LRC managed to arrive? Brig. Gen. Emmanuel Teodosio, the co-director of the Balikatan exercises, replied: "I don't think so. You have to keep in mind that the rain was heavy, the area is forested, the terrain is bad. I don't see how the LRC could have performed any differently."

The remaining challenge now, especially after President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered a search-and-destroy operation against the Abu Sayyaf, is to finally eliminate the remnants of the Abu Sayyaf. Already, the Southern Command has coordinated with the mayors and officials of the towns in Zamboanga del Norte and neighboring areas to make sure that the bandits could not escape the dragnet that has been thrown practically around the peninsula and in other areas of Mindanao.

The worst-case scenario, according to Carolina, is if the bandits decided to kidnap again out of desperation. "But we are making sure that this does not happen," he said. Bulatlat.com

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