Declaring war on Muslim extremists who hold more than two dozen hostages, the government said yesterday it has halted attempts to negotiate and will focus only on hunting them down.
"There's no point in talking," National Security Adviser Roilo Golez said. "It's all-out war."
The Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, who claimed on Tuesday they killed one of the three Americans they hold, already said they would no longer negotiate with the government.
Golez said the rebel beheading claim came despite the government's offer to give in to a key demand -- to ask a former Malaysian senator to help work out a deal.
"We tried to open negotiating lines, but then they did this," Golez said.
Felix Dalugdugan, vice mayor of Lantawan town on the southern island of Basilan where the hostages are held, said 80 Abu Sayyaf rebels attacked the village of Atong Atong on Wednesday evening but were pushed back by 38 militiamen and eight soldiers. He did not mention casualties.
Joel Maturan, mayor of Tipo Tipo town on the southeastern corner of the island, said yesterday that residents saw Gracia and Martin Burnham, a Wichita, Kansas, Christian missionary couple, last weekend, before the alleged beheading of Corona, California resident Guillermo Sobero.
He said Burnham was in fatigues while his wife wore a Muslim headdress. They were seized May 27 while they slept at a southwestern Philippine beach resort.
Maturan said the Burnhams appeared in good health and in notably better spirits than in their last sighting. On June 2, the couple and Sobero were seen during a fight between the army and guerrillas. Hostages who escaped during the battle said the Burnhams and Sobero were trembling and fearful.
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on national television Wednesday warned that eliminating the Abu Sayyaf could mean a "long and bloody war."
"We will meet fire with fire, and more. No ransom. No deal. No ceasefire. No suspension of the military operations. We will not stop the campaign until we have cleansed Basilan and Sulu of the Abu Sayyaf forces," she said, referring to the southern islands where the rebels are based.
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