MORTE. Photo by JULIE S. ALIPALA
Zamboanga City鈥擠efying an order from his leader Habier Malik, a Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) gunman fired a shot at soldiers at the height of negotiations for a ceasefire in the village of Santa Catalina on Friday afternoon. That error resulted in a failure to free the hostages and in the loss of lives.
鈥淭his saboteur rebel fired the first shot, which made Malik mad. We were all supposed to be freed that Friday afternoon but this rebel started shooting at the soldiers,鈥� Junior Santander Morte, 60, a lumberyard owner who escaped from his captors on Saturday, told the Inquirer.
Morte was grazed by a .50 cal. bullet on the forehead and was grazed by another bullet in the left armpit during the fighting.
Morte said that at 2 p.m. on Friday, he and more than 230 other hostages were told to form a human barricade (six lines with about 40 hostages in a line) on Lustre Street, about 100 meters from the military position.
鈥淪oldiers on the ground and soldiers in the armored vehicles kept firing but they did not hit us,鈥� Morte said.
鈥淲e were like waves. When the soldiers fired, we ducked one way all at the same time. When that side was hit, we ducked to the other side. When somebody said 鈥榮it鈥� or 鈥榟it the dirt,鈥� all of us followed,鈥� he said.
As the soldiers and the rebels exchanged fire, 鈥渢he women and the children cried and begged for the shooting to stop,鈥� Morte added.
Around 3 p.m., some MNLF commanders called up their contacts in the government, asking for a ceasefire to clear the way for the release of wounded hostages, he said.
The hostages were told to continue to form a human barricade while they await the ceasefire, he said.
鈥淏ut it seemed the soldiers were unaware of the negotiations because they were shooting at the barricade,鈥� Morte said.
A teenage boy was hit in the left arm.
鈥淭he other hostages bound his wound,鈥� Morte said.
A 2-year-old child was hit in the head.
鈥淧oor child. The mother pleaded for a halt to the shooting so that the human barricade could leave Lustre,鈥� Morte said.
Around 5 p.m., Malik ordered all the hostages to move back, positioning them some 170 m from the government forces.
Morte said Malik and Ismael Dasta, an MNLF commander from Basilan, resumed calling their contacts in the government to get help for the wounded hostages.
Minutes later, lights from the armored personnel carriers started to flash, giving hope to the hostages who thought they were to be freed.
Morte said Malik started to embrace the hostages, apologizing for what had happened.
Pal Aukasa, one of the MNLF rebels, also cried as he embraced the hostages his group had held since Sept. 9.
鈥淗e was crying and asking the hostages for forgiveness. He told them he would understand if they were angry with him,鈥� Morte said.
As the hostages started to move toward the government troops, a Moro fighter fired at the soldiers.
The soldiers fired back and soon there was an intense exchange of fire. Some MNLF forces pulled back the hostages and took them to a mosque in nearby Santa Barbara village.
Morte was one of the 38 hostages held by Dasta鈥檚 group and he was among the captives taken to Santa Barbara.
In Santa Barbara, Morte saw a bigger number of Moro rebels鈥攁t least 300, including women鈥攍ed by Malik.
Malik was holding at least 200 hostages, Morte said. 鈥淭here were many teenagers. They were students,鈥� Morte said.
Morte said the male students were assigned to prepare food for the hostages. The female hostages were ordered to look after the elderly, the sick and the children.
Morte said young MNLF fighters ransacked stores and shops for food, medicines and personal-care stuff.
鈥淏ut those were not enough because there were so many of us,鈥� he said.
Morte also said the MNLF fighters did not start the burning of houses.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e not crazy. If they did that, the military would know our location,鈥� he said.
But because of the burning of houses and stores, they ran short of food, he said.
鈥淲e ate rice that had been soaked in water,鈥� he said.
After the botched release of hostages on Friday, Morte said he went to one of the houses to rest.
Perhaps due to exhaustion, he said, he slept and woke up on Saturday afternoon amid heavy fighting.
It was then that he learned that most of the MNLF rebels and their hostages had moved to Rio Hondo village.
Inside the house, he waited for the shooting to stop.
鈥淲hen the shooting subsided, I ran for it, heading toward the military position,鈥� he said.
Along the way, he saw three bodies sprawled on the street鈥攖wo of the hostages and that of the MNLF fighter who defied Malik鈥檚 ceasefire order.
But Morte鈥檚 ordeal was not yet over.
鈥淭he soldiers shouted, 鈥楻aise your hands!鈥� I did. 鈥楽it down!鈥� I sat down. 鈥極n the ground, one your belly!鈥� I obeyed. 鈥楥rawl!鈥� I crawled until I got to them. And then they stripped me,鈥� Morte said.
鈥淚 thought I was already free, but they laughed at me. I told them I was grazed with a .50 cal. bullet on the forehead and I had another wound in my armpit. They said I should have been dead,鈥� he said.
Instead of taking him to hospital, Morte said, he was taken to a room where he was interrogated.
He was later taken to the police contingent nearby who interrogated him.
He said neighbors and relatives vouched for him, telling the authorities that he was a resident.
Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala, spokesperson for the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said聽 Morte鈥檚 allegations would be investigated.
鈥淎t the height of that crisis, it鈥檚 really hard to determine where the bullets were coming from. But what is important is that the safety of the civilians is the primary concern of our troops, and we never have any intention of bringing harm to innocent people,鈥� Zagala told the Inquirer by phone.