Dos Palmas kidnappings

The terrorists with the hostages on the boat

The Dos Palmas kidnappings occurred on 27 May 2001 when the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group kidnapped 20 people from the wealthy Dos Palmas resort in Palawan in the Philippines, with some of the hostages including Chinese tourists, American and French missionaries, and some security guards from the resort.

Incident[]

Kidnapping[]

Early on the morning of 27 May 2001, a group of Abu Sayyaf gunmen in two boats headed to the affluent Dos Palmas shore resort at Honda Bay north of Puerto Princesa on the island of Palawan, where several foreign tourists were staying. 20 people were abducted from the resort as gunmen started smashing windows and demanding that the sleeping people put on clothes, and a total of 20 people were taken hostage; this included four resort staff and three Americans, with most of the hostages being Chinese tourists.

The terrorists shot one man, Santi Dizon, in the head on the rocks on the walkway down to the boats, the first mortality of the attack. They shouted "Allahu akbar" as they drove off, and they later dropped the 20 hostages onto a larger boat. The hostage-takers implemented sharia law on the boat, saying that any thieves would have their hands cut off and that women had to cover themselves, with men not being allowed to touch women that were not their wives. The terrorists took the names and professions of the hostages to determine the size of their ransom, and they had hostage John Bernstein read a statement to the group's local radio station, Radio Agong, saying that they had been taken hostage by Osama bin Laden with 20 other people. During the boat ride, the terrorists proceeded to take French missionary Therese Bourgoine's box full of books and bibles and throw it into the sea, despite a scuffle with Bourgoine and some of the other hostages. The books were deemed unneccessary cargo, and they were thrown away.

Arrival in Basilan[]

The boat headed to the island of Mindanao across the Sulu Sea through rain and shine, and the hostages were disembarked from the boat by the gunmen in the afternoon. The hostages were taken through the jungle and some rivers in Basilan, and some of the hostages had to peel off leeches that latched onto them while they moved across the river. The hostage-takers met up with more jihadists led by Abu Saiyed in the jungle, and Abu Saiyed decided to take the hostages to Lamitan so that they could collect ransom money from the government. The hostages were allowed to wash at the river, and the hostages were treated decently by the terrorists, with Abu Saiyed giving Bourgoine a towel to use as a blanket or pillow and allowing for her and her elderly companion Soledad Carpio to go to the river and wash. However, while the hostages were at the river, shots were fired at the terrorists, and the terrorists moved the hostages away from the river as bullets flew all around. Eventually, a female Filipina hostage requested that the terrorists let her use their radio, and she asked the government to call off their operation in Basilan to prevent the hostages from being killed, saying that the terrorists were treating them well. The attack ceased, with no apparent injuries.

Lamitan hospital siege[]

The terrorists decided to load the hostages onto a bus and take them to Lamitan, but there was not enough room for everyone. While the rest of the hostages were moved forwards, the two Filipino security guards and one other man were kept behind and hacked to death with bolo knives. The rest of the passengers were driven on the bus to Lamitan, where the terrorists entered the Dr. Jose Torres Memorial Hospital and took it over. They separated the patients from the tourists, and they distributed food to all of the people in the hospital. Abu Saiyed said that the original hostages would be given other rooms and allowed to bathe, and noodles and soup was arranged for the hostages, including two new hostages, a husband and his pregnant wife who was giving birth in the hospital. When a Filipino Army truck passed through the street, a sniper in the bell tower of the adjacent St. Peter's Church shot the driver in the head with his M4 carbine and proceeded to kill two more Filipino soldiers that night. Soon, it became a siege, with an APC and several army troops being deployed to besiege the hospital. A general of the army gave the Abu Sayyaf terrorists their money and told them to exit through the back and only go through areas where they were protected, ensuring that no violence would happen.

Filipino Army soldiers being deployed to Lamitan

However, the Filipino Army deployed around the hospital and attempted to ambush the terrorists as they left the building, and another firefight broke out. Civilian spectators that flooded the streets were milling about, and there were fears that innocents could be hit by stray bullets. People inside the hospital took cover, and the terrorists had Bourgoine contact the French embassy and get President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to order her troops to stop firing, and the soldiers were once more ordered to cease fire after a few had been gunned down. The terrorists proceeded to separate the Christians from the Muslims and patients, and when the hospital was cleared, the Filipinos resumed fire on the building, setting it on fire as the people left. The Muslims and patients were freed, while the Christians were taken up a trail on a hill leading away from the town. Three women - Lolit, Fanny, and Jean - were told by the terrorists that they would negotiate the release of the other hostages, and they went back down the trail while the hostages continued their journey on foot.

Onwards from Lamitan[]

The terrorists talking about the rules for prisoners of war in the Quran

The terrorists proceeded to stop at a small stand, with Abu Saiyed telling his men to pay for some chocolate and candies at the stand. Filipino militia noticed the Abu Sayyaf men and opened fire on them from their houses, wounding a young Filipina woman and John Bernstein and killing one of the fighters, Haroon. The wounded were left behind, and the terrorists and hostages moved on. Abu Saiyed told them the four rules of prisoners of war: one, they could be killed; two, they could be enslaved; three, they could convert to Islam and live peacefully; and four, they could pay taxes and practice their own religion. The Filipina nurses treated the wounded, but the next morning, Soledad did not wake up, and the nurses declared her dead. The militants decided to leave her, but after an intense argument, they were persuaded to let the hostages bury her in a Christian ceremony with a makeshift cross. They were interrupted by a wave of hornets and forced to leave the area shortly after. The terrorists found out that Jean and Lolit lived up to their promises and ransomed Jessica and George, good news for them. George was told to go to the Radio Agong station and broadcast that Mindanao should belong to Muslim, and he left the terrorists after shaking hands with them. One of the terrorists was called by President Arroyo on the radio, and he warned her that if there was no money in Malaysia in the next 72 hours, a white person would be beheaded. Meanwhile, another insurgent was interested in taking the unmarried nurse Joan as a wife. The militants briefly exchanged fire with the army before making camp. One of the hostages, Oswald, was taken by the militants and beheaded after saying that he wanted to see his son, and the head was sent to the President as a "gift" on Philippine Independence Day.

Abu Saiyed forced Joan to marry him after reading her the Qur'an and telling her about Islam, while Bourgoine told the nurse Roselle that it was not right to like a man like Molazem, one of the terrorists, as they repeatedly flirted with each other despite their situation. Randy and Roselle were released to Manila shortly after, and Roselle was sad to leave Molazem, but she left either way. Shortly after, Abu Saiyed married Joan in a Muslim ceremony.

As the terrorists and hostages moved on, the army decided to ambush them once more, but the terrorists located the soldiers first and slaughtered them in a hail of gunfire. All of the soldiers in the squad were killed, and the terrorists took their weapons, which included M4 carbines. The army then beheaded the soldiers, and when they looked in their bags, they found wanted posters for them. The group continued on, and Abu Saiyed was forced to let Joan go so that she could give birth to a healthy baby; she could not live off the meagre rations that the hostages were forced to live off of, and she departed the group with her hijab on and Islam as her new religion. In addition, the male nurse Fred was converted to Islam to become an alim, and he was given the name "Abu Abdul" as well as Abu Saiyed's old keffiyeh.

Soon after, another ambush was launched against the Islamists, beginning with Abu Saiyed being shot in the head while praying, and Wajih was killed by the soldiers during the firefight. Fred threw away his keffiyeh and his gun and ran away, giving up his newfound Abu Sayyaf membership; meanwhile, Hamed was wounded in the foot in the firefight, and Bourgoine took care of his wound. Abu Saiyed was buried in Islamic tradition, and the next day, Muslim militants heard the news of 9/11 on their radio. They also found out that the government was to pay $3,000,000 for the ransom of the hostages, causing them to shout "Allahu akbar" in celebration. Shortly after, Olive was thrown to the ground in front of a tree by the new emir Abu Mokhif and raped, and she was forced to marry him, even though she was already married with children. Bourgoine tried to pick a fight with him, but he stated that he was the new emir and could do whatever he wanted.

Soon after, Net 25 journalist Arlyn de la Cruz was brought to the company by one of the terrorists' old friends, Armin, and she interviewed John and Sophie Bernstein. Sophie panicked when interviewed; Bourgoine was also emotional during her interview, and said that she felt hopeless because she felt that the government was not doing anything about their situation. They were taken to a school next, where they had food and at times helped the children in studying, and the terrorists gave money to the school in exchange for their help. Later, Abu Mokhif announced that he wanted to increase the ransom to $30,000,000 to settle the tourists' "debt" for "squatting" on Philippine lands. Three girls were released by the group in hijabs after the government agreed to pay the ransom and use Malaysia to mediate, occurring shortly before the New Year. Bourgoine spoke with Hamed in a friendly conversation on New Year's Eve, but on New Year's, the army launched a surprise attack on the camp. John Bernstein was killed in the crossfire, and many militants were also killed or captured; Hamed was arrested by the soldiers, and the hostages were freed at last.

Aftermath[]

Five hostages had died in the whole crisis, which led to 1,000 United States troops being sent to the Philippines to provide high-technology support to the Philippine government in fighting terrorism. Kidnap-for-ransom activities in the southern Philippines became a lucrative business after Dos Palmas, and failed peace negotiations brought no end to the Mindanao conflict, with Abu Sayyaf remaining a major Islamist terrorist group that continued to fight the government.

Known hostages[]

Randolph Bardone
Fanny Tanjuatco
Santi Dizon, a Filipino man who was shot during the hostage-taking
Emma Policarpio from Brooke's Point, Palawan and her husband from California
A husband and wife who owned a travel magazine and the husband's sister Annette
Lolit - a Chinese teacher - and her two nieces Jessica and Emma
Bank worker George Gueco and his wife Jean
Therese Bourgoine, a missionary from France
Soledad Carpio, Bourgoine's elderly coworker from Palawan †
John Bernstein, a missionary based in Luzon †
Sophie Bernstein, a British missionary married to John
Two Filipino security guards from Dos Palmas †
Edward, one of the foreign tourists
Olive, Joan, Roselle, and Cindy, female nurses
Fred, a male nurse who was later converted to Islam as "Abu Abdul".
Oswald †

Attackers[]

Abu Saiyed, the leader of the terrorists †
Abu Mokhif, the second Emir after Saiyed's death
Abu Azali
Abusama
Molazem, the fighter who flirted with the nurse Roselle
Abu Omar
Sanunu
Wajih, a militant killed in an ambush in the jungle †
Hamed, a young and teenaged militant
Haroon, the militant who was killed in the militia ambush †
Nur