Defense Secretary Angelo Reyes is again deceiving the public when he claimed that military authorities had nothing to do with the alleged ransom payoff that led to the release of the Abu Sayyaf hostages seized from Dos Palmas resort in Palawan.
This was declared today by House Assistant Minority Leader Gilbert Remulla as he pointed out that the claim of Reyes that money may have changed hands during the release but the military had nothing to do with the payoff is “just one of the many lies that the Defense Secretary has been peddling from one administration to another.”
“This only shows the true character of Gen. Reyes. His inconsistent statements on matters of national security are clear proof that his words cannot be trusted,” Remulla said.
Remulla had asked Reyes to be investigated for allegedly providing President Arroyo and then President Estrada contradicting information on the controversial beheading footage which was shown to the public last month.
The neophyte Cavite solon said it is quite impossible for the military forces in Basilan not to have anything to do with the alleged ransom payoff involving the release of the Dos Palmas hostages because they were the ones who were supposed to be control of the security situation during the Lamitan siege in June last year.
“ There was no way any civilian could have slipped in and out of the security cordon around Lamitan Hospital where the Abu Sayyaf were holed up to deliver the ransom unless it was sanctioned by the military,” Remulla pointed out.
Convinced by the testimonies of Travel Magazine Publisher Buddy Recio who claimed that money changed hands before the release of some of the Dos Palmas hostages during Lamitan siege, Remulla said it is possible that high-level government officials cleared the ransom payoff.
Recio’s testimony was backed by a Philippine National Police (PNP) report, which attested that most Abu Sayyaf victims paid ransom before they were released.
“It is just too impossible to believe that a ransom was paid without the collaboration of the security forces in Basilan,” he added.
During the initial phase of the investigation on the expose of father Cirilo Nacorda that the military facilitated the payment of ransom for the release of the Dos Palmas hostages, Reyes vehemently denied the priest’s allegation and even assured that no ransom was paid for the release of the Dos Palmas hostages.
But when Recio confirmed that he paid ransom for the release of his sister-in-law, Reyes suddenly backtracked and claimed that ransom may have been paid but the military had nothing to do with it.
These inconsistent remarks of Reyes, Remulla said, only shows that the Defense Secretary is not honest in presenting to the public the real national security situation.
In his testimony before the House-Senate panel investigating allegations that some AFP officials facilitated the ransom payment for the Dos Palmas hostages, Recio said he paid P1 Million for the release of his sister-in-law Angie Montealegre who was kidnapped along with him, his son and 14 others at Dos Palmas, an upscale resort on Arreceffi Island in Palawan.
Among the original kidnap victims, only American missionary couple Martin and Gracia Burnham are still in Abu Sayyaf hands.
Recio said that he was freed but he had to raise ransom for the release of his sister-in-law but said his son RG was allowed to join real estate magnate Regis Romero II and his Rizza Santos when they allegedly escaped from the Jose Torres General Hospital in Lamitan.But RG disputed the claim of Romero that they escaped from their captors after he claimed that he overheard the Abu Sayyaf members talking about the ransom that was paid for their release.