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New Netflix docu on Burnhams kidnapping fleshes out disagreement over rescue

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Dominic Menor, ABS-CBN News

<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="350" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DSp83eiQ-1w" width="600"></iframe></figure>Could a more prudent approach have saved the life of American missionary Martin Burnham during the highly publicized Mindanao hostage crisis of 2001 and 2002?An American hostage negotiator thinks it was possible.Burnham and his wife, Gracia, were held captives by the Abu Sayyaf for more than a year, but only Gracia survived the ordeal.Martin was shot in the chest and died during an encounter between the terrorist group and the Philippine military in the jungles of Basilan. Gracia took a bullet in the leg but survived.The new Netflix documentary series “Captive” devotes one episode to the Burnhams kidnapping and details how the key players in the negotiations for the attempted release of the Americans went about dealing with the hostage crisis that redefined the way rescue operations are carried out.Chuck Regini, one of those key players, questioned the way the military dealt with the rebels and their captives.“There&#x27;s no place in this planet for terrorism. That doesn&#x27;t mean that we have to disregard hostages&#x27; lives and go immediately in and try to take out terrorist hostage takers,” said the former FBI hostage negotiator who was part of the team that tried to bring out alive the Burnhams and another American, Guillermo Sobero.The documentary referred to two instances in which the foreign and local security operatives disagreed over strategy.The first was on June 2, 2001, in Lamitan City, Basilan, where soldiers stormed Abu Sayyaf rebels trapped in a hospital. The insurgents survived the siege and were able to flee to the jungle with their captives.Regini said it could&#x27;ve been an opportunity for his team to begin negotiating with the hostage takers.“Unfortunately, the Philippine authorities didn&#x27;t agree with that approach. They were intent on pursuing and eliminating the Abu Sayyaf, hostages or no hostages,” Regini said.“Pretty quickly, we began to see we weren&#x27;t able to gain the influence with the Filipino authorities that we thought we might be able to do.”More than a year later, in June 7, 2002, soldiers ran into the rebels and a gun battle ensued that wounded Gracia and killed Martin.“You know, I often hear, ‘Well we can&#x27;t talk to these guys anymore. We gotta go right in.’ I think that that&#x27;s a bad decision,” Regini said. “I think it&#x27;s a decision that&#x27;s made based upon the emotions of the moment and we&#x27;re not looking at it carefully.” Police Director Benjamin Magalong, Special Action Force commander who negotiated for the government at the time, defended the men in the frontline, but wished he had gotten both Burnhams out alive.“I cannot blame the armed forces for shooting the hostages because I know what they&#x27;ve gone through. I&#x27;ve been there before,” Magalong said. “Bullets just simply flew anywhere, you know? I should have been happy if I’d known that during that operation many of the Abu Sayyaf were annihilated . . . but . . . I don&#x27;t know what to say.”The episode, titled “American Missionaries, Philippines,” got the sides of Gracia, her sister Mary Jones, and Martin’s parents. “I don&#x27;t dream about what happened in the jungle. I never have terrors at night,” Gracia said. “And all these years down the road, I&#x27;m losing some of those fine details and that bothers me a bit. I find myself wishing I could remember ’cause I think that&#x27;s all I have left of Martin.”The show also interviewed Arlyn dela Cruz, the Filipino journalist who filmed an exclusive interview with the Burnhams during their captivity, and Abu Omar, an Abu Sayyaf leader who exposed ideological cracks within the group.“Captive,” which features eight episodes tackling different hostage-taking events from around the world, premiered last Friday.

Could a more prudent approach have saved the life of Martin Burnham during the highly publicized Mindanao hostage crisis of 2001 and 2002? An American hostage negotiator thinks it was possible.

Could a more prudent approach have saved the life of Martin Burnham during the highly publicized Mindanao hostage crisis of 2001 and 2002? An American hostage negotiator thinks it was possible.

New Netflix docu on Burnhams kidnapping fleshes out disagreement over rescue

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New Netflix docu on Burnhams kidnapping fleshes out disagreement over rescue

Dominic Menor,

ABS-CBN News

Published Dec 13, 2016 04:50 PM PHT

Read More:

Abu Sayyaf

Martin and Gracia Burnham

hostage crisis

hostage negotiations

kidnapping

terrorism

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