ZAMBOANGA CITY—The military on Thursday announced the arrest of two men tagged as members of the bandit group Abu Sayyaf and allegedly involved in the kidnapping of 20 people, mostly foreigners and a prominent Filipino businessman, from a high-end resort in Palawan province in May 2001.
Maj. Gen. Rainier Cruz, head of the Army’s 1st Infantry Division based in Zamboanga del Sur, said Jojo Pai and another suspect, identified only as Aling, were arrested in Labason, Zamboanga del Norte, on Wednesday.
Cruz said the two were among Abu Sayyaf members who are behind the kidnapping of 20 tourists at Dos Palmas Resort in Palawan, one of the most high-profile attacks by the bandit group.
Cruz said the arrested men were now under interrogation.
Two of the hostages taken from Dos Palmas were killed— Martin Burnham, who was killed in a rescue operation, and Guillermo Sobero, who was beheaded. Nurse Ediborah Yap, a victim who was taken by the Abu Sayyaf when the group transferred the Dos Palmas hostages to Basilan, was also killed during a rescue operation.
Among those kidnapped was businessman Regis Romero. He was released by the bandits.
The Abu Sayyaf took the victims by boat to Basilan, where the bandit group maintains a base until now.
In Basilan, four Filipino hostages escaped. While in Lamitan, a Basilan city, the Abu Sayyaf took control of Jose Torres Memorial Hospital and St. Peter’s Church compound and seized 20 more people mostly doctors, nurses and patients.
On June 12, 2001, the Abu Sayyaf beheaded Sobero.
Military operations that followed led to the rescue of many of the hostages, except for a few that included Burnham and his wife, Gracia, and nurse Yap.
In June 2002, the military launched an operation to secure the freedom of the Burnhams and nurse Yap, but Martin and Yap were killed in the crossfire.
The Abu Sayyaf group that kept the hostages in Basilan was led by Abu Sabaya, who was killed in a military operation in Zamboanga Sibugay.
The Abu Sayyaf continues to be active following the 2001 Dos Palmas kidnapping.
In the succeeding years, most of the kidnap leaders were later killed or sent to prison in a series of military operations, though the manhunt for the other suspects continues.
Founded using seed money from al-Qaida in the 1990s, the Abu Sayyaf is blamed for the worst terror attacks in the country.
These include a 2004 ferry bombing that killed more than 100 and a string of deadly kidnappings targeting foreigners and locals in Mindanao. Julie Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao, with AFP