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Bandits abduct 20 in Palawan resort
PUERTO PRINCESA CITY -- At least 20 heavily armed men, believed to be members of the Abu Sayyaf bandit group, kidnapped 20 persons, including three Americans, from the upscale Dos Palmas Arreceffi Island Resort here at dawn yesterday.

GMA to Sayyaf: Force with force
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- It was the outlaw group Abu Sayyaf that abducted three Americans and 17 Filipinos early Sunday from a high-end resort in Puerto Princesa City, and as proof, its spokesperson put two of its alleged hostages on the air.

News blackout on rescue efforts
PRESIDENT Macapagal-Arroyo yesterday imposed a news blackout on the military offensive against the bandits holding 20 hostages from the Dos Palmas resort in Palawan.

US offers help in tracking Abu
THE UNITED States yesterday rushed to the aid of the Philippine government in its battle of wits and nerves with Abu Sayyaf bandits who threatened to kill their three American and 17 Filipino hostages.

Dos Palmas hostages reported in Basilan
IT appears that the bandit group Abu Sayyaf has given the military the slip. A day after conceding that the bandits and their hostages might have reached Sulu, Armed Forces spokesperson Brig. Gen. Edilberto Adan said it was "very possible" that they had also landed in Basilan.

Gov't troops clash with Abu Sayyaf
TUBURAN, Basilan -- Government troops clashed with the bandit group Abu Sayyaf in Barangay Bohe Bessey here early yesterday, leaving two soldiers dead and 14 others wounded.

GMA sees victory over Abu Sayyaf
PRESIDENT Macapagal-Arroyo last night announced that she was envisioning the victory of the Armed Forces and Philippine National Police over the bandit group Abu Sayyaf, which, she said, had been "cornered" by government troops in Lamitan, Basilan.

Abus escape cordon
USING children as human shields against heavy gunfire, Abu Sayyaf kidnappers broke through a military cordon around a hospital and church compound in a Basilan town after midnight Saturday and melted into the surrounding jungle with at least 14 hostages, the military said.

Military seeks emergency powers vs Abu Sayyaf
PRESIDENT Macapagal-Arroyo and her advisers are evaluating a proposal to declare a state of emergency in Basilan after the military hinted strongly that such a declaration would help it wipe out the Abu Sayyaf group in southwestern Mindanao, Malacañang said yesterday.

New fighting erupts; 2 more soldiers killed
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- Fighting flared anew yesterday morning between government troops and fleeing Abu Sayyaf bandits at Barangay Upper Sinangkapan in Tuburan, Basilan, leaving two more soldiers dead and several others wounded.

Abus moving deep into Basilan jungle
LAMITAN, Basilan -- Military operations against the Abu Sayyaf were temporarily stopped yesterday, but the bandits and their hostages are reportedly making their way to the thickly forested Mt. Mahadji in Maluso town.

Abu Sayyaf threatens to behead US hostage
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- The Abu Sayyaf yesterday said it would behead one of its American hostages if the government failed to start negotiations in 72 hours.

President going soft on bandits -- Pimentel
SENATE President Aquilino Pimentel Jr. is bothered by Malacañang's "apparent switch from an aggressive stance to a much softened approach" toward the bandit group Abu Sayyaf.

General warns of long fight with Abu Sayyaf
BRIG. Gen. Edilberto Adan, the spokesperson of the country’s Armed Forces, batted anew for ``special legal measures’’ and increased military presence in Mindanao, warning that the Abu Sayyaf problem could last for the next 50 years if the national leadership does not steel itself to take these ``politically sensitive’’ decisions.

2 Abu suspects slain in Basilan
TWO suspected members of the Abu Sayyaf were shot dead and two others were wounded by soldiers in a clash on the outskirts of the capital of Basilan Island on Saturday night.

Gov’t blinks, agrees to talk with bandits
THREATENED by the beheading of the Americans held by the Abu Sayyaf, Malacañang yesterday said it was agreeing to the bandit group’s demand to include a Malaysian ex-senator in negotiations for the hostages’ release.

Beheading a bloody ‘gift’ for Macapagal
A GRIM-FACED President Macapagal-Arroyo yesterday promised foreign diplomats gathered in Malacañang that her administration would "decimate" the bandit group Abu Sayyaf, which announced earlier in the day that it had beheaded an American hostage as an "Independence Day present."

‘No ceasefire, ransom, deal’
RETURNING to her original hardline position, President Macapagal-Arroyo yesterday said there would be "no ransom, no deal, no ceasefire, no suspension of military operations against the Abu Sayyaf bandits."

2 hostages released after payment of P10M
ZAMBOANGA CITY -- A total ransom of P10 million was paid for the release yesterday of two female hostages of the Abu Sayyaf, a military official in Basilan said yesterday.

Military says Abu freed no hostages
ZAMBOANGA CITY--The military yesterday dashed hopes that the Abu Sayyaf had released two of its female hostages in Basilan, but the military official who earlier made the claim insisted that ransom had been paid.

3 Abu hostages walk to freedom
IT’S freedom at last for three hostages of the Abu Sayyaf, two of them part of the group seized May 27 from a high-end resort in Palawan.

P5-M ransom paid for teenage hostage
ISABELA CITY -- A P5-million ransom was paid in exchange for the freedom of 15-year-old Kimberly Jao Uy, according to a source who claims to be the "go-between" of the Abu Sayyaf and the victim’s family.

Military now presumes Sayyaf killed Sobero
AMERICAN hostage Guillermo Sobero is now presumed dead, except that his body has yet to be recovered from the jungles of Basilan.

Price tags placed on Abu hostages
"MAGKANO ang kaya ninyo (How much can you afford)?" One after the other, Abu Sayyaf leader Abu Solaiman asked the hostages at the height of the firefight between the military and the Abu Sayyaf in Lamitan, Basilan, three weeks ago.

Janjalani brothers ask to talk peace
THE BROTHERS Janjalani have each written a letter to President Macapagal-Arroyo, one from Hector Janjalani from the Camp Crame jail; the other from his younger brother, Khadaffy, from somewhere in the jungles of Basilan.

3 more Sayyaf hostages freed
AN ALLEGED intermediary yesterday said the Abu Sayyaf had freed three Filipino hostages who should make their way to safety within the next 48 hours, but government officials said they could not confirm this.