To those who are familiar with Philippine hostage rescue attempts in the last 10 years, the Quirino Grandstand Hostage incident should not have come as a surprise. Three previous well-publicized incidents clearly show the lack of capability of our military and police to execute a surgical hostage rescue operation.

On 20 March 2000, the Abu Sayyaf abducted 23 teachers and 30 students – including Claretian Missionary Father Rhoel Gallardo – from different schools in two towns several kilometers apart in the Southern Philppine Island of Basilan. The 45 day ordeal was well-documented in the 2001 book, “Into the Mountain” by Jose Torres. On 3 May 2000 in an aftermath of a military encounter betwen government soldiers and the Abu Sayyaf bandits, Fr. Gallardo and school teachers Anabelle Mendoza, Editha Lumame, and Ruben Democrito, were recovered. The book is quite charitable in its treatment of the hostage rescue attempt, but if you read between the lines, it is clear that Fr. Gallardo and those hostages who died were killed by friendly fire by the military. In particular, the narration states that after being told told to “drop!” a fusillade of automatic fire was unleashed upon the group which immediately left Fr. Gallardo and the rest dead of gun shot wounds. Ironically, the hostage takers were able to escape with some other hostages.

Soon afterward on 27 May 2001, American Missionary Gracia Burnham and her husband Martin were taken hostage from the posh Palawan resort of Dos Palmas. In her memoir of her year in captivity, “In the Presence of my Enemies” Gracia Burnham narrated several failed attempts by the military to rescue them. Particularly, she described the incompetence of our military during the Lamitan Hopsital Siege, wherein the kidnappers and hostages were simply relaxing inside the hospital while the army was waging an “acoustic war” outside. She states that their group simply walked out through the military “cordon” (although co-hostage Guillermo Sobrero was hit by stray shrapnel in the foot). She also tells of other hilarious tales of heavy canons being fired at them, bombs being dropped by planes, and on a particularly notable incident where their group was chanced upon by a truck of soldiers who screamed, “Abu Sayyaf!!”, then they dismounted and proceeded to indiscriminately fire fully automatic at them. In her book, Gracia wondered out loud if the intention of the military was to rescue them or kill them.

After a year in the jungle on 7 June 2002, the comedy became dead serious when a group of scout rangers ambushed them on a muddy hill on a rainy day. Though she does not tell it directly, Gracia implies that he husband Martin was killed by friendly fire since she claims he was nowhere near the Abu Sayyaf when her husband was hit by the opening burst of gunfire while he was sleeping in his hammock. The young lieutenant even apologized to her afterwards for the incident stating that he was “just doing his job.”

In her final chapter of her book, Gracia Burnham delivers a scathing criticism of the Philippine Army and their methods stating that the U.S. Army would have “done otherwise”, using the cover of night with night vision, stealth, and better tactics.

Perhaps the most notable rescue assault in recent Philippine history was the 14 March 2005 PNP assault of the Bicutan jail which had been taken over by Abu Sayyaf inmates. It was quite successful by Philippine standards – everyone was killed: 22 Inmates and 2 jail guards. The assaulters and their commanders even got themselves charged for human rights violations by the Commission on Human Rights for summarily executing the suspects, who were armed only with blades and blunt weapons. 

It is thus clear that based on past actions, THERE IS MUCH ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT. These failed rescue attempts were neither pre-ordained nor unavoidable. They were a result of MISTAKES that were made through HUMAN ERROR resulting from POOR TRAINING. If we do not learn from lessons of the past and fail to act NOW, then more of such hostage situations will recur and more people will die as a result.