AFP: Just awaiting order to rescue Germans from Abu Sayyaf

AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr.: Just waiting order. AP

MANILA, Philippines–Although it is ready to rescue a German couple being held hostage by the Abu Sayyaf, the Armed Forces of the Philippines will not initiate an operation unless ordered.

AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. said there were procedures to follow in such a situation and the military must wait for a directive from the Crisis Management Committee before attempting a rescue.

“We cannot do the rescue until the Crisis Management Committee tells us to do so. There is a protocol and we want a safe release through peaceful negotiations with the abductors,” Catapang said.

The Crisis Management Committee is composed of local officials from Sulu. It is expected to meet on Monday. Catapang said he will send his vice chief of staff, Lt. Gen. John Bonafos, to join the committee along with Lt. Gen. Rustico Guerrero, head of the Western Mindanao Command.

Catapang said the military also had to wait for orders since foreign nationals were involved. He added that they were in constant communication with the German ambassador regarding the situation.

Catapang was in Jolo, Sulu, on Sunday to visit the troops at the 2nd Marine Brigade Headquarters at Camp Teodulfo Bautista and to conduct a command conference.

It will be recalled that last month, the Abu Sayyaf threatened to behead one of the two German nationals in its custody unless a P240 million ransom was paid. The threat was made through Twitter.

The Germans are a couple, Stepfan Victor Okonek, 70, and Herike Diesen, 55, who were abducted from their yacht off Palawan in April.

Catapang said he wanted to personally oversee the situation, especially with the threat to behead a captive, as well as the other kidnapping incidents in Sulu.

Earlier, the AFP repositioned the 501st Infantry Brigade and its attached units, the 21st and 41st Infantry Battalions, from Northern Luzon to Western Mindanao, particularly Sulu and the Zamboanga Peninsula, to beef up its presence there.

“We want to end the agony of the kidnap victims, in as much as they are appealing to us for their release, but we cannot do the rescue yet,” Catapang said.