| $9.7m paid to Jolo rebels MANILA
-- Military chief Angelo Reyes inadvertently disclosed during a Cabinet meeting that about
245 million pesos (S$9.7 million) in ransom has been paid to Muslim rebels who kidnapped a
group of Westerners and Asians from a diving resort in April.
The chief told the meeting on
Monday that he got the estimate from a military intelligence report, but Philippine
President Joseph Estrada, who chaired the session, stopped the discussion, apparently
because of the presence of journalists covering the meeting.
""An estimated 245
million pesos was paid for board and lodging of the released hostages. However, a large
percentage of this amount was spent to procure firearms and ammunition for the Abu Sayyaf
group,'' chief Reyes had said as he briefed the Cabinet.
The country has a no-ransom
policy and officials have never publicly confirmed large payments to the guerillas. --AP,
The Philippine Daily Inquirer/Asia News Network
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