Captive (2016) s01e04 Episode Script
American Missionaries, Philippines
1 [man.]
Now it's recording.
And here we have, uh Oh, no! What in the world's that? [laughing.]
[Mary Jones.]
Martin was just so awesome.
I mean, he was always considerate.
He loved to prank people and play jokes on people.
He was just a good person.
- [man.]
Hey, this is kind of fun.
- [chuckles.]
[Mary.]
Gracia, she had a great desire to share her faith with people.
She was always a very giving person.
Everybody loved her.
I looked up to her a lot.
[woman.]
So, this is a day before your anniversary, too, isn't it? May 27th.
[Mary.]
It was their 17th wedding anniversary, and I just would have never given a second thought to not being safe.
[Abu Omar.]
We were waging a religious war.
Foreign tourists were considered to be enemies by the Abu Sayyaf.
Tourists will be among the victims and millions of dollars will come to the group, for the creation of independent Islamic state.
This is jihad.
[train horn sounding.]
[phone ringing.]
[phone continues ringing.]
[Mary.]
When I heard the phone, I looked over at my clock and it was about 3:30 in the morning.
We don't get calls at 3:30.
I ran down the hall, and before I got to the phone, I could hear the machine kick on and I could hear my dad's voice, and I knew that that meant it was something bad.
I got the phone, and he told me that Martin and Gracia had been kidnapped.
I went into a tunnel.
You know, your life just kind of collapses right around you.
[reporter.]
Dos Palmas, one of the Philippines' most exclusive resorts, until it became a terrorist target.
Muslim extremists called Abu Sayyaf broke into bungalows kidnapping guests, including three Americans.
Father of four Guillermo Sobero, from Corona, California.
Martin and Gracia Burnham, missionaries from Rose Hill, Kansas.
Taking their hostages to the southern island of Basilan, stronghold for the group's war of independence.
[Mary.]
They had been missionaries in the Philippines for 16 years.
Martin flew a plane.
He would deliver food and goods that the missionaries there needed, and Gracia worked the radio.
They had a really nice, peaceful life there.
I started searching for anything about this group of people who had taken them, what they had done with people before And every single article I read, these people, the Abu Sayyaf, kidnap people for ransom money, strike fear into people to be obedient by beheading.
[speaking Filipino.]
Thinking about Martin and Gracia being in that situation it made me feel sick inside.
[reporter 1.]
Martin Burnham, one of the three American hostages, flew to the resort Saturday together with his wife Gracia [reporter 2.]
has been allowed to broadcast an appeal for the government in Manila to negotiate his release.
[Martin.]
I, Martin Burnham, and my wife Gracia, both U.
S.
citizens, were taken as captives on May 27th, 2001, at the Dos Palmas beach resort in Palawan.
We are safe.
We are unharmed.
Our needs are being met.
And we would like to appeal to all for reasonable and safe negotiations.
Thank you.
[Oreta Burnham.]
The FBI brought the recording out to us, and he sounded strong.
Martin is our oldest and, um you hate to see your children go through all of those things.
[Paul Burnham.]
Other missionaries had been captured before, and they usually got out fairly quickly.
So, we figured there would be something worked out, knowing that it would be scary for him, and a hardship for him, and dangerous.
We just hoped that it would turn out that Martin would come home.
[siren wailing in distance.]
[Charles Regini.]
Even though these situations are complicated and dangerous, it's something that's very familiar to us.
We were perceived as the experts when it came to those particular types of situations.
You can influence these people.
People that may likely do the most horrible of things.
You know, terrorist hostage takers threatening to chop off individuals' heads.
You can intervene.
We had an incredible success rate, particularly in international incidents.
So in May of 2001, it was, from our perspective just another international kidnapping case.
I remember landing in Manila, the legal attaché coming to pick us up and take us to the embassy I mean, it was very much in the news, and the government there was really hot over it.
There were continual gun battles between the Abu Sayyaf and the armed forces of the Philippines.
[speaking Filipino.]
[Gloria Arroyo on TV.]
The terrorists shall not be allowed to get away with this.
We shall not stop until the Abu Sayyaf is finished.
[Regini.]
Even with all the high tensions, we still had great confidence um, in our ability to influence the situation with the Filipino authorities, with the Abu Sayyaf.
We already had a negotiator who had developed influence with them.
We felt pretty good.
[Benjamin Magalong.]
It was a very, very complicated situation.
The Abu Sayyaf, they have transformed something into some sort of a religious war.
I have seen army officers get hacked, get killed.
It's because, you know, once they say, "Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar," then, uh, you know, they don't think about themselves anymore.
[horns honking.]
[Omar.]
This is our religious obligation as a Muslim.
To defend the homeland, to defend the people.
We were not afraid to die for Islam.
[reporter.]
The day of running battles in the streets of the town of Lamitan.
Troops of the Philippine Army using helicopters and tanks against a group of Islamic rebels holed up in a local hospital.
They reported that most of the group seized from the beach resort were inside the hospital, being held [Mary.]
A week into this situation, we heard that Gracia and Martin and all the hostages were completely surrounded by the military.
There was no way that they could get out.
This is it.
It's over.
It only lasted a week.
They're gonna get them out.
This isn't gonna be a problem.
A huge sigh of relief on my part.
[man 1 in Filipino.]
Where are the rebels? [man 2.]
Over here, there.
[Arlyn dela Cruz.]
When that story broke, I was able to get to the area first.
There were members of the Scout Rangers and of the Philippine Army that were already there, plus members of the local police.
The Abu Sayyaf Group were supposed to be pinned down, but because they have the hostages, they have the upper hand.
[inaudible.]
[Regini.]
When it ended up a hostage barricade situation, that's a good thing for us, because what we were waiting for is an opportunity to say, "Hey, look here's an option for you.
Why don't we communicate with them?" Unfortunately, the Philippine authorities didn't agree with that approach.
[guns firing in distance.]
[guns firing.]
They were intent on pursuing and eliminating the Abu Sayyaf, hostages or no hostages.
[guns continue firing.]
[Arlyn.]
I covered a lot of hostage crises in the past, but that day, my mindset changed.
For the first time, I got scared.
We were actually being shot at.
[guns firing.]
[soldiers yelling indistinctly.]
[Regini.]
Pretty quickly we began to see we weren't able to gain the influence with the Filipino authorities that we thought we might be able to do.
[reporter.]
The aftermath of fighting between Abu Sayyaf rebels and government troops in the town of Lamitan.
It's reported that the rebels used hostages as human shields to escape.
The military said 12 soldiers had been killed during the fighting, with dozens wounded.
[Magalong.]
You know, here in the Philippines, we have very, very limited resources.
Without enough troops, without proper planning The Abu Sayyaf, they've got their tentacles all over the place, and they were able to get support from the local populous.
They guided the Abu Sayyaf and the hostages where to escape out there in the jungle.
[Regini.]
The Abu Sayyaf got away.
We didn't expect that, but [inhales deeply.]
you don't have control.
[Mary.]
That was the turning point for me.
That's when I really became very angry about the situation and the lack of control that we had, and I It was devastating, emotionally, for that to happen.
Now they would go deeper and deeper into the jungle where there was no one, nothing.
[Regini.]
We were looking to develop intelligence so that we could learn more about the Abu Sayyaf.
There were certain members of the group that were kind of what people would refer to as "true believers," but that wasn't largely the group.
[speaking Filipino.]
[Regini.]
Abu Sabaya, one of the senior leaders of the Abu Sayyaf, more of a criminal than a jihadist.
[Arlyn.]
He looked the part.
He made sure he wore the right shades, he wore the right bandanna.
He wore attire that says, "You should be scared of me.
" [speaking Filipino.]
[Magalong.]
Our Muslim brothers feel they were marginalized.
I understand them.
But for Abu Sabaya uh, it's, uh he just pretends to be a revolutionary.
He just pretends to be a revolutionary, yeah.
He tries to portray that they are fighting for the Muslim people.
At the end of the day, he is more concerned about money.
[Omar.]
We were always told, "If you die for Islam, you go to heaven.
" I was really aspiring to become a good mujahid, and if possible, I will die for the cause of religion.
But, uh, when the group started to be influenced by people like Abu Sabaya, it became different.
[man speaking Filipino over radio.]
[Regini.]
There was a ransom demand played on the radio for the Burnhams and Guillermo Sobero of $2 million.
So we knew we had to implement a strategy that would, um, lower the expectations of the Abu Sayyaf of receiving anything for the hostages.
[Mary.]
The party line in the United States is that we do not give ransoms to terrorists, that we should not offer them anything.
We should, you know, take a firm stand.
But that's just not how it's done in other parts of the world.
[Magalong in Filipino over recording.]
I know you are frustrated, Abu Sabaya, but it's hard for me to convince them about the money.
One thing that I succeeded was that I made him talk, uh, a lot, you know.
And that's one of the most important parts of negotiation.
[Abu Sabaya in Filipino.]
I don't want to decapitate the heads of the hostages, but I can't guarantee what I will do if there is no development.
Two days ago, my men got engaged with gunfire again, and they are getting frustrated.
[Magalong.]
I only want your assurance that you will not harm the hostages.
[Sabaya.]
There are no guarantees on the hostages.
My objective there was then to, you know, make sure that the hostages are kept alive.
That's my objective.
I don't think I'll be able to get them out, I don't think, without paying ransom.
Just to make sure that they are kept alive.
[Regini.]
What we knew of Martin and Gracia was that they were likely to be non-confrontational, and were likely to make it hard for the Abu Sayyaf to hurt them.
But we had information that the Abu Sayyaf did not like the third hostage, Guillermo Sobero.
He had developed an antagonistic relationship with his captors.
[Sabaya in Filipino.]
We are wasting our time.
Their safety depends on you.
[Magalong.]
Abu Sabaya, whatever you read in the newspaper, it is different in reality.
[Sabaya.]
You are insulting our talks.
I want to know the status of our requests.
Then he said, "If you cannot deliver our demand in 48 hours, we will kill Sobero.
" [Sobero's daughter.]
Daddy, I miss you a lot.
I want you to come back home.
Please, Abu Sabaya, please, give me back my daddy because I miss him a lot.
He's everything for me.
And please don't harm him because [sniffles.]
me and my brothers are waiting for him and we need him back.
[Regini.]
Guillermo Sobero was executed.
It was heart-wrenching.
That could be me.
That could be that could be my son, my daughter.
[Sabaya speaking Filipino.]
We have beheaded one American, Guillermo Sobero.
The government might find his head in Tuburan.
They should hurry, otherwise there may be no more hostages left.
[Mary.]
I was in a state of complete panic because I was sure they were gonna get killed.
[Omar.]
What is happening in the AS is no longer the way we wanted it before.
The beheading of the American national I was disgusted.
Abu Sabaya loves violence.
He loves money.
There was a time when I almost think of killing him because he spoiled everything.
[Oreta.]
We didn't really hear a lot about our children after that.
And they didn't contact us as much, the government.
It was kind of like they'd forgotten our kids in there.
Nothing much changed throughout that summer.
Throughout the summer of, uh, 2001, it was pretty much status quo.
We weren't making much We weren't making any progress.
[Mary.]
I became aware of the fact that Martin and Gracia were just two people over in the Philippines in a jungle.
Life goes on here.
I wrote a letter to the White House, and we just kind of got blown off.
And I just made up my mind that I was gonna send a letter every three days until somebody answered me because I was not going to not be heard.
It felt like me against the world, but I think I just believed that somebody somewhere would care, and that they would do something, or that they would have the power to influence what was going on.
[speaking Filipino.]
act of war.
[reporter speaking Filipino.]
[Regini.]
The thing that changed the equation of everything was 9/11.
I was in Manila at the time.
Watched the second plane fly into the second tower from my hotel room.
[man.]
a terrorist attack.
I can't tell you anything more about it.
I saw the plane hit the building.
It changed everything.
[George W.
Bush.]
From this day forward any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime.
The only way to defeat terrorism as a threat to our way of life is to stop it, eliminate it and destroy it where it grows.
Our war on terror - begins with al-Qaeda - [speaking indistinctly.]
but it does not end there.
It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated.
It was probably three weeks or maybe a month later that I found an article that said that Osama bin Laden um, had been in training with Abu Sabaya, that some of his men had actually gone and trained in Afghanistan with Osama bin Laden's group.
And I thought, "That's awesome," because we want Osama bin Laden, and now there's a link between these two people.
[reporter.]
We heard some blunt words from President Bush on the war against terrorism today, when he and visiting Philippine president Gloria Arroyo met with reporters.
President Bush pledged to help the Philippines in its fight against the Islamic rebel group Abu Sayyaf, linked to the al-Qaeda terror network.
Are you prepared to go the next step, sir? Are you willing to put American combat troops on the ground there, and, President Arroyo, would your constitution allow that? [Bush.]
President Arroyo understands now is the time to make a stand against terrorist activity, whether it be in Afghanistan or in the Philippines or anywhere else al-Qaeda exists.
[Regini.]
Huge resources were turned around and put towards disruption and neutralization of the Abu Sayyaf Group.
A joint task force from the U.
S.
Special Forces and U.
S.
Air Force was deployed so that we could do something about this issue in the Philippines.
[Donald Rumsfeld.]
At the present time, we have, I believe, the last time I looked, something like 240 or 250 military personnel in the country.
And I expect that there will be several hundred more people going in.
[crowd chanting.]
U.
S.
out! [man.]
This issue of Abu Sayyaf is internal issue of the Philippines.
It is not subject for external intervention.
[Magalong.]
It's a serious issue with the Philippines if the Americans get actively involved in operations violating our sovereignty.
[man speaking Filipino on megaphone.]
[crowd chanting.]
[Magalong.]
You should understand that, since the 1980s, the U.
S.
bases have always been a serious issue in the Philippines, you know.
Even until now, you know? Because that was one of the issues.
No American boots on the ground.
They can only act as advisors.
If the Americans come in and then they did their operations, it will be a big issue.
[Arroyo.]
We shall keep the strategy of continuous pressure.
We shall not surrender the combat initiative to the enemy.
We will forge on with greater fervor and tenacity until the Abu Sayyaf is finished.
[reporter.]
This is the terrain.
A guerrilla war and foliage so thick you can't see three feet in front of you.
When soldiers here see men with guns, they fire, otherwise, they say, they run the risk of being ambushed.
[guns firing.]
These Filipino marines thought they attacked the Abu Sayyaf.
The group turned out to be civilian volunteers armed by the military.
[Mary.]
It benefited us in that these people that took Gracia and Martin, the Abu Sayyaf, who were unknown to everyone, suddenly were on everybody's radar.
But I just wanted to know that Martin and Gracia were both still alive.
That they were still out there somewhere.
[siren wailing.]
[Regini.]
In November 2001, we started to look for potential intermediaries that might have access to the location of the Burnhams.
[man speaking indistinctly on radio.]
[Regini.]
Around that time, Abu Sabaya gave access to a Filipino reporter.
[speaking Filipino.]
At that time, there was no news about them.
None whatsoever.
As if that incident didn't happen at all.
But I knew contacts that can get me to the area of the hostages, at least ascertain if they're still alive or not.
From what I knew at the time, there was a window of opportunity.
I was told that I was going to walk for four hours to get to the Burnhams.
But in reality, from the checkpoint to their location just took me 30 to 45 minutes on foot.
I was shocked that they were just very near very near the last military checkpoint.
[people speaking indistinctly.]
[Arlyn.]
I waited for just 15 minutes in one area, where other members of the ASG, most of them in their early teens 16, 14 years old.
They're just little kids.
And then after a few minutes, uh, emerging from what appears to be a makeshift tent there came out Martin and then Gracia.
[people speaking Filipino.]
[Arlyn.]
Uh, Martin, can you tell us your condition? Obviously Well, um, yes.
It's actually almost six months now, and in just a few days, it's gonna be six months that we've been here.
And, uh, our condition is deteriorating.
Uh, I guess, first of all, we'd like to send a message of, uh, love and, um our desire to return back to our families.
So we want [clears throat.]
Excuse me.
We want them to know that we're still strong, and we plan to come home at the first available minute.
- We want to come home.
- [Arlyn.]
Mmm-hmm.
Our condition is that we're not happy here.
Uh, so while we're still alive, we can, I think, be negotiated for here if somebody would be willing to do so.
Um, so I would ask my own government, even, to please In our case, could you could you negotiate or talk to these people? We've been through different encounters with the military.
I think they were called, uh, rescue attempts.
[Gracia.]
But those are very difficult [Arlyn.]
Mmm-hmm.
when you're laying on the ground and you drop.
And you run and you drop.
And, um, bullets are whizzing past your head.
And we always look at each other and I tell Martin, "I love you.
I want you to know before I die.
" Those are very hard for us.
And one of these days, in one of these encounters, those bullets aren't gonna whiz past our heads.
And we're gonna lose our lives and people are just gonna say, "Oh, well, there went the Burnhams.
Too bad.
You know, they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
" Uh, every time I hear even a twig snap I think it's a gunshot.
I wake up hearing gunshots.
[Gracia.]
I felt abandoned.
I felt forgotten.
This had gone on for so long.
I was faithless.
God's forgotten where we are.
We can't help ourselves, and I really appreciate you coming in so we can tell our story to others.
Just let people know that we we've been forgotten.
[sobbing.]
And then it starts all over again.
[Arlyn.]
Gracia was, of course, angry.
But Martin, he did not show any hint that he was trying to blame anyone for what happened to their situation.
He was he was in full trust that everything would be okay.
My goal is to return alive to my children, um, and to be at their side again.
- [Arlyn.]
Mmm-hmm.
- So [Gracia.]
I would tell Martin over and over, "I can't go on.
" And he said, "Gracia, go one more hour.
Just one more hour.
" "Uh, okay, I'll go one more hour.
" Everybody's hoping, even also our groups.
We are eager to set you free.
But only we are waiting for the decision of the Philippine government or the U.
S.
government.
[Arlyn.]
The Sabaya that you saw in my interview was not the Sabaya that he introduced or he projected himself to be in earlier days.
That was a different Sabaya.
Because at that time, Sabaya didn't really know who can he trust.
I think he was left alone by the other ASG commanders to negotiate for Martin and Gracia.
Martin, Gracia, I'll do my best to report truthfully about your condition here.
- [Martin.]
Thank you very much.
- You can be assured of that.
[Martin.]
Thank you very much.
Thank you also.
[reporter.]
For the first time in six months, a journalist was able to do what the Philippine military has been unable to accomplish: get within rescuing distance of two American hostages.
This is no way to live.
There's no way to take care of yourself.
[reporter.]
The chilling interview shows Kansas missionaries Gracia Burnham and her husband Martin, captive in a remote island jungle, looking thin and terrified, surrounded by heavily armed guerrillas.
[Mary.]
The first time I saw that, it took the air out of me because she was just so hopeless, you know? And basically begging somebody to have mercy on them and to help.
Last night, I woke up with severe chest pains and there's nothing you can do.
You just lay there and you're in pain.
You can't sleep.
I want the President of the United States to have to sit and watch this tape.
And then I want an explanation [scoffs.]
as to why my sister and her husband are still sitting there in the jungle.
We are still strong and we plan to come home at the first available minute.
[Mary.]
If the United States is serious about wiping out terrorism around the world, why not start with them? They are alive.
It really spurred the emotions of the U.
S.
people and our leaders at the highest levels of the U.
S.
government.
And we definitely recognized a need for a change in how the U.
S.
responds to these incidents.
[inhales deeply.]
And no doubt, this was a great opportunity.
[Paul Wolfowitz.]
The Burnhams are important.
The peace and order situation in southern Philippines is important.
They're all important.
We're doing whatever we can, and the Philippine armed forces are doing whatever they can to find and rescue the Burnhams.
[cameras clicking.]
[Arlyn.]
The Abu Sayyaf were running out of areas to hide the hostages.
And you see them in an area where they don't have any control.
That area that even the Abu Sayyaf are not so familiar with.
I think Sabaya knew that it's a matter of time, that the military will catch him.
[Gracia.]
We just hiked through the mountains and stayed one step ahead of the military.
'Cause you didn't know when the next gun battle was gonna be.
You know, the fear would just be right in my throat.
Abu Sayyaf got sick of it.
There were days we woke up, and there'd be 10, 15 guys gone.
They took their guns and they went home.
We went from this what, 80 people enthusiastic "We've got some hostages.
We're all gonna get our part of the booty of war," to this ragtag team.
There were 14 of us, maybe? [Omar.]
The group became factionalized.
Uh, relationships have been broken because of ransom.
Abu Sabaya was keeping with him the hostages because it's the card that, uh, he can use.
Unless the money will be paid to him, he will not release the hostages.
[Gracia.]
We knew that the American government didn't pay ransom.
And we knew that there was nothing about us that would ever merit a huge ransom.
We were just wishing and hoping and wanting to go home.
[reporter 1.]
There's late word now, another possible shift in the way the United States government handles hostage takers.
[reporter 2.]
Essentially, the U.
S.
is leaving the door open to paying ransom to kidnappers.
[Regini.]
The policy was signed and approved by the President of the United States.
It was a big moment for us when it was approved.
For the first time, we could actually put something on the table on behalf of the family.
We decided to use Gracia's sister to try to jump-start negotiations with the Abu Sayyaf.
[Mary.]
I remember when we were landing in Zamboanga, we flew over Basilan.
And you can't see anything.
It just looks like this very dense jungle.
I mean, you don't see any houses, you don't see any roads.
You don't see anything.
And I think I understood for the first time why it might have been so difficult to track them.
[reporter.]
Miss Burnham? Miss Burnham, can we just get a quick comment [Mary.]
I had all these State Department people and all these FBI people around me.
And there was this huge crowd of reporters that met us out on the tarmac and came in, and it was it was kind of scary.
[Gracia.]
It was Sabaya that said, "Your sister's gonna be on the radio.
" So they brought us a radio, and we got to hear Mary give this speech.
[Mary over radio.]
Hello, my name is Mary Jones.
I am the sister of Gracia Burnham, who has been held hostage in the southern Philippines for nearly eight months along with her husband Martin Burnham.
Our family misses Gracia and Martin very much, and we are extremely worried about them.
I would like to make a personal appeal to Abu Sabaya and Janjalani and the rest of the Abu Sayyaf to please not harm Martin and Gracia.
They have no money for ransom, and they are not a threat to anyone.
Harming Martin and Gracia will not solve anything, and will only deprive their children and our family of the people that we love.
Their children need them and our family needs them.
Martin and Gracia, we love you.
We hope you come home soon.
Thank you.
[Gracia.]
I should've known.
We've not been forgotten.
They care about us.
They They aren't just sitting back waiting for the status quo to happen.
[shutters clicking.]
[Regini.]
She did a great job.
She provided a phone number to the Abu Sayyaf.
And that got us in contact with them.
There was an offer that was made.
They were receptive to it.
It was much lower than their demand.
A subsequent offer was made.
Slightly more.
Not enough to raise their expectations that there was a whole lot of money but just enough to see what they would say.
They accepted.
They accepted the offer.
[Gracia.]
Sabaya told us, "Someone's gonna pay a ransom for you," and we were all gonna go home.
It's like someone had thrown us a rope to hang onto.
Some hope, some hope.
[Mary.]
I got a call right before the exchange was made, and it was Chuck, and he was telling me that it was gonna happen, and he would be back in touch with me.
We were way in now.
We were eight or nine months in at that point.
And I I just knew that this was gonna work, you know? [Regini.]
The money was all agreed to.
The Abu Sayyaf courier took the money.
It seemed all very positive that, you know, we were gonna obtain the release of the Burnhams.
We knew that it would take some time.
We had about a week that we anticipated the wait time would be.
It became ten days.
Now we're into two weeks.
We began to get suspicious, though.
Something was not right.
It was taking too long.
[phone ringing.]
[Gracia.]
The Abu Sayyaf said, "Someone's paid a ransom for you but it's not enough and we're gonna ask for more.
" [reporter.]
The U.
S.
government was involved in arranging the payment of a ransom to the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group in the Philippines.
It was meant to secure the release of an American couple being held hostage [reporter 2.]
Defense Secretary Rumsfeld opposed this idea and was overruled.
The FBI, White House and State Department arguing that it was worth violating the administration's own policy on paying ransom in order to at least try because these American missionaries would probably be killed.
[Regini.]
We had every indication that we were gonna be successful.
It was hugely disappointing for everyone involved.
I felt we had let them down.
[reporter.]
The U.
S.
government helped pay $300,000 as ransom.
The cash was handed to an individual who claimed ties to the terrorist group, but the U.
S.
was never able to verify that he delivered the money.
The money was not received by Sabaya.
It is being kept by other people.
I think the group had split by then.
And I think the big bunch of the money went to the guys who were out in town, and just a little trickle came into the group that had us.
[Omar.]
Sabaya was trying to reach them that the money must be presented to him, but it wasn't delivered actually.
[Gracia.]
By that time, we were so tired and hungry and worn out, we didn't care.
I was ready to die.
There were days I told Martin "I'm done.
I'm not walking anymore.
I'm not taking a step.
They can shoot me if they want to.
I'm finished.
I'm staying right here.
" And I watched a difference in Martin.
Martin had always been the upbeat one.
"We're gonna make it home.
You know, just keep going.
" And I saw a difference in him.
I think he started thinking he would not go home.
I hated those guys for what they were doing to us, for the pain they were causing our family.
I hated them.
I was a good soldier for Islam.
But then I saw the atrocities committed by the group.
And I decided then to get out rather than struggle with people who are taking advantage of Islam for their own interests.
[dog barking in distance.]
[Oreta.]
It was hard to think that it's a year and they still are not out.
[Paul.]
We didn't know where they were or what was going on.
We knew their military was still trying.
[Oreta.]
And I said one time, I said, you know, "Don't you have any way of getting our children out of there?" I said, "You're gonna have to get them out or they're gonna die in there.
" [Regini.]
We continued to try to engage Abu Sabaya in communication to try to understand how can we move to a resolution on this.
We understand that this other deal didn't happen for you.
Um so how can we work together to get past it? [man.]
I think that we are very much going in the right direction, continuing to apply greater and greater military pressure to the Abu Sayyaf Group.
It is in their interest to release both the Burnhams unharmed.
[Regini.]
It was clear that those involved at the decision-making level in-country and back in the States, you know, were interested in pursuing other methods.
[crowd yelling.]
You know, understand the pressure on the different governments by their own citizens then, you know.
This actually makes it very complex.
[crowd yelling.]
[Arroyo.]
President Bush assured us of the continuing help of the United States in pushing our operations forward.
We will forge on with greater fervor and tenacity until the Abu Sayyaf is finished.
[Mary.]
I think that the Philippine military felt the pressure to produce the end result that we wanted.
[Arroyo.]
The location of the Abu Sayyaf has been pinpointed, although the terrain is expansive and difficult to operate in.
- [radio static.]
- [man speaking indistinctly.]
[Gracia.]
This last morning, we started a long hike up into the mountains.
This little group of weak, exhausted people walking through the jungle We hadn't eaten in nine days.
[thunder rumbling.]
[man speaking indistinctly.]
[Gracia.]
Right about noon, it clouded up to rain as it often did and we stopped and we set up our hammocks.
The rain was just pelting on the the plastic.
And Martin said "Gracia, I've been thinking about Psalm 100 today.
Especially that first verse that talks about serving the Lord with gladness.
" He said, "This does not seem like serving the Lord.
We've been walking through the jungle for over a year.
But let's accept that we're serving the Lord here, and let's do it with gladness.
" [chuckles softly.]
He was always saying such good things.
We prayed together and suddenly I was shot immediately, in the leg, and flipped out of the hammock, went sliding down the hill, it was so wet and slick.
And I came to rest beside Martin.
And I looked over at him, and he was bleeding from his chest.
Breathing really loudly, almost snoring.
And, um saw that this big blood stain was getting bigger and bigger on his chest.
[breathing heavily.]
All of a sudden, he got heavy.
I felt him.
And, um, I think that was the weight of death.
I think he died right then.
It's almost like you're outside of yourself, watching this scene.
Um 'Cause this is not what we'd been praying for.
[scoffs.]
This wasn't the ending we wanted.
Um, but by that time, the fight was out of me and, uh, I just lay there and I thought, "Okay.
Okay, this is it.
This isn't how I would have ended the story, but this is it.
" [sighs.]
[Magalong.]
I cannot blame the armed forces for shooting the hostages because I know what they've gone through.
I've been there before.
Bullets just simply flew anywhere, you know? I should have been happy, you know, if I'd known that during that operation many of the Abu Sayyaf were annihilated, something like that.
But um um I don't know what to say.
[mutters.]
I don't know what to say.
[Regini.]
There's no place in this planet for terrorism.
That doesn't mean that we have to disregard hostages' lives and go immediately in and try to take out terrorist hostage takers.
That the only option available in these situations is a military approach.
Um, why would we do that? You know, I often hear, "Well, we can't talk to these guys anymore.
We gotta go right in.
" I think that that's a bad decision.
I think it's a decision that's made based upon the emotions of the moment and we're not and we're not looking at it carefully.
[Bush.]
First, let me say how sad we are that, uh, Martin Burnham lost his life.
And I will call his parents.
Um, I'm pleased that Mrs.
Burnham's alive.
[stutters.]
That's good.
[Mary.]
That has always been just a terrible burden on my heart, that they both didn't come home.
And I felt like, and I think I still feel like I didn't do enough.
Or I should have started sooner.
[sniffles.]
Or maybe I should've pushed harder.
But you just don't know what to do when something like that happens 'cause you're not expecting it.
Martin loved this country with all his heart.
I return to the States this morning to rejoin my children and to put my life back together.
[Gracia.]
Dear heavenly Father, we are grateful for today, for your grace in our lives and for days past that you've been faithful to us.
And thank you for family.
Pray that you would bless the food.
We know that it came from your hand, too, and we're so grateful to you.
[Gracia.]
"Who are the bad guys?" Martin and I would talk about that.
The bad guys are the ones feeding you, shielding you in a gun battle.
The good guys are the ones shooting at you 'cause it all became just mixed up in your mind.
We were just caught in this story, this happening.
[indistinct chatter.]
I don't dream about what happened in the jungle.
I never have terrors at night.
And all these years down the road, I'm losing some of those fine details, and that bothers me a bit.
I find myself wishing I could remember.
'Cause I think that's all I have left of Martin.
[softly.]
Yeah.
[somber music playing.]
Now it's recording.
And here we have, uh Oh, no! What in the world's that? [laughing.]
[Mary Jones.]
Martin was just so awesome.
I mean, he was always considerate.
He loved to prank people and play jokes on people.
He was just a good person.
- [man.]
Hey, this is kind of fun.
- [chuckles.]
[Mary.]
Gracia, she had a great desire to share her faith with people.
She was always a very giving person.
Everybody loved her.
I looked up to her a lot.
[woman.]
So, this is a day before your anniversary, too, isn't it? May 27th.
[Mary.]
It was their 17th wedding anniversary, and I just would have never given a second thought to not being safe.
[Abu Omar.]
We were waging a religious war.
Foreign tourists were considered to be enemies by the Abu Sayyaf.
Tourists will be among the victims and millions of dollars will come to the group, for the creation of independent Islamic state.
This is jihad.
[train horn sounding.]
[phone ringing.]
[phone continues ringing.]
[Mary.]
When I heard the phone, I looked over at my clock and it was about 3:30 in the morning.
We don't get calls at 3:30.
I ran down the hall, and before I got to the phone, I could hear the machine kick on and I could hear my dad's voice, and I knew that that meant it was something bad.
I got the phone, and he told me that Martin and Gracia had been kidnapped.
I went into a tunnel.
You know, your life just kind of collapses right around you.
[reporter.]
Dos Palmas, one of the Philippines' most exclusive resorts, until it became a terrorist target.
Muslim extremists called Abu Sayyaf broke into bungalows kidnapping guests, including three Americans.
Father of four Guillermo Sobero, from Corona, California.
Martin and Gracia Burnham, missionaries from Rose Hill, Kansas.
Taking their hostages to the southern island of Basilan, stronghold for the group's war of independence.
[Mary.]
They had been missionaries in the Philippines for 16 years.
Martin flew a plane.
He would deliver food and goods that the missionaries there needed, and Gracia worked the radio.
They had a really nice, peaceful life there.
I started searching for anything about this group of people who had taken them, what they had done with people before And every single article I read, these people, the Abu Sayyaf, kidnap people for ransom money, strike fear into people to be obedient by beheading.
[speaking Filipino.]
Thinking about Martin and Gracia being in that situation it made me feel sick inside.
[reporter 1.]
Martin Burnham, one of the three American hostages, flew to the resort Saturday together with his wife Gracia [reporter 2.]
has been allowed to broadcast an appeal for the government in Manila to negotiate his release.
[Martin.]
I, Martin Burnham, and my wife Gracia, both U.
S.
citizens, were taken as captives on May 27th, 2001, at the Dos Palmas beach resort in Palawan.
We are safe.
We are unharmed.
Our needs are being met.
And we would like to appeal to all for reasonable and safe negotiations.
Thank you.
[Oreta Burnham.]
The FBI brought the recording out to us, and he sounded strong.
Martin is our oldest and, um you hate to see your children go through all of those things.
[Paul Burnham.]
Other missionaries had been captured before, and they usually got out fairly quickly.
So, we figured there would be something worked out, knowing that it would be scary for him, and a hardship for him, and dangerous.
We just hoped that it would turn out that Martin would come home.
[siren wailing in distance.]
[Charles Regini.]
Even though these situations are complicated and dangerous, it's something that's very familiar to us.
We were perceived as the experts when it came to those particular types of situations.
You can influence these people.
People that may likely do the most horrible of things.
You know, terrorist hostage takers threatening to chop off individuals' heads.
You can intervene.
We had an incredible success rate, particularly in international incidents.
So in May of 2001, it was, from our perspective just another international kidnapping case.
I remember landing in Manila, the legal attaché coming to pick us up and take us to the embassy I mean, it was very much in the news, and the government there was really hot over it.
There were continual gun battles between the Abu Sayyaf and the armed forces of the Philippines.
[speaking Filipino.]
[Gloria Arroyo on TV.]
The terrorists shall not be allowed to get away with this.
We shall not stop until the Abu Sayyaf is finished.
[Regini.]
Even with all the high tensions, we still had great confidence um, in our ability to influence the situation with the Filipino authorities, with the Abu Sayyaf.
We already had a negotiator who had developed influence with them.
We felt pretty good.
[Benjamin Magalong.]
It was a very, very complicated situation.
The Abu Sayyaf, they have transformed something into some sort of a religious war.
I have seen army officers get hacked, get killed.
It's because, you know, once they say, "Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar," then, uh, you know, they don't think about themselves anymore.
[horns honking.]
[Omar.]
This is our religious obligation as a Muslim.
To defend the homeland, to defend the people.
We were not afraid to die for Islam.
[reporter.]
The day of running battles in the streets of the town of Lamitan.
Troops of the Philippine Army using helicopters and tanks against a group of Islamic rebels holed up in a local hospital.
They reported that most of the group seized from the beach resort were inside the hospital, being held [Mary.]
A week into this situation, we heard that Gracia and Martin and all the hostages were completely surrounded by the military.
There was no way that they could get out.
This is it.
It's over.
It only lasted a week.
They're gonna get them out.
This isn't gonna be a problem.
A huge sigh of relief on my part.
[man 1 in Filipino.]
Where are the rebels? [man 2.]
Over here, there.
[Arlyn dela Cruz.]
When that story broke, I was able to get to the area first.
There were members of the Scout Rangers and of the Philippine Army that were already there, plus members of the local police.
The Abu Sayyaf Group were supposed to be pinned down, but because they have the hostages, they have the upper hand.
[inaudible.]
[Regini.]
When it ended up a hostage barricade situation, that's a good thing for us, because what we were waiting for is an opportunity to say, "Hey, look here's an option for you.
Why don't we communicate with them?" Unfortunately, the Philippine authorities didn't agree with that approach.
[guns firing in distance.]
[guns firing.]
They were intent on pursuing and eliminating the Abu Sayyaf, hostages or no hostages.
[guns continue firing.]
[Arlyn.]
I covered a lot of hostage crises in the past, but that day, my mindset changed.
For the first time, I got scared.
We were actually being shot at.
[guns firing.]
[soldiers yelling indistinctly.]
[Regini.]
Pretty quickly we began to see we weren't able to gain the influence with the Filipino authorities that we thought we might be able to do.
[reporter.]
The aftermath of fighting between Abu Sayyaf rebels and government troops in the town of Lamitan.
It's reported that the rebels used hostages as human shields to escape.
The military said 12 soldiers had been killed during the fighting, with dozens wounded.
[Magalong.]
You know, here in the Philippines, we have very, very limited resources.
Without enough troops, without proper planning The Abu Sayyaf, they've got their tentacles all over the place, and they were able to get support from the local populous.
They guided the Abu Sayyaf and the hostages where to escape out there in the jungle.
[Regini.]
The Abu Sayyaf got away.
We didn't expect that, but [inhales deeply.]
you don't have control.
[Mary.]
That was the turning point for me.
That's when I really became very angry about the situation and the lack of control that we had, and I It was devastating, emotionally, for that to happen.
Now they would go deeper and deeper into the jungle where there was no one, nothing.
[Regini.]
We were looking to develop intelligence so that we could learn more about the Abu Sayyaf.
There were certain members of the group that were kind of what people would refer to as "true believers," but that wasn't largely the group.
[speaking Filipino.]
[Regini.]
Abu Sabaya, one of the senior leaders of the Abu Sayyaf, more of a criminal than a jihadist.
[Arlyn.]
He looked the part.
He made sure he wore the right shades, he wore the right bandanna.
He wore attire that says, "You should be scared of me.
" [speaking Filipino.]
[Magalong.]
Our Muslim brothers feel they were marginalized.
I understand them.
But for Abu Sabaya uh, it's, uh he just pretends to be a revolutionary.
He just pretends to be a revolutionary, yeah.
He tries to portray that they are fighting for the Muslim people.
At the end of the day, he is more concerned about money.
[Omar.]
We were always told, "If you die for Islam, you go to heaven.
" I was really aspiring to become a good mujahid, and if possible, I will die for the cause of religion.
But, uh, when the group started to be influenced by people like Abu Sabaya, it became different.
[man speaking Filipino over radio.]
[Regini.]
There was a ransom demand played on the radio for the Burnhams and Guillermo Sobero of $2 million.
So we knew we had to implement a strategy that would, um, lower the expectations of the Abu Sayyaf of receiving anything for the hostages.
[Mary.]
The party line in the United States is that we do not give ransoms to terrorists, that we should not offer them anything.
We should, you know, take a firm stand.
But that's just not how it's done in other parts of the world.
[Magalong in Filipino over recording.]
I know you are frustrated, Abu Sabaya, but it's hard for me to convince them about the money.
One thing that I succeeded was that I made him talk, uh, a lot, you know.
And that's one of the most important parts of negotiation.
[Abu Sabaya in Filipino.]
I don't want to decapitate the heads of the hostages, but I can't guarantee what I will do if there is no development.
Two days ago, my men got engaged with gunfire again, and they are getting frustrated.
[Magalong.]
I only want your assurance that you will not harm the hostages.
[Sabaya.]
There are no guarantees on the hostages.
My objective there was then to, you know, make sure that the hostages are kept alive.
That's my objective.
I don't think I'll be able to get them out, I don't think, without paying ransom.
Just to make sure that they are kept alive.
[Regini.]
What we knew of Martin and Gracia was that they were likely to be non-confrontational, and were likely to make it hard for the Abu Sayyaf to hurt them.
But we had information that the Abu Sayyaf did not like the third hostage, Guillermo Sobero.
He had developed an antagonistic relationship with his captors.
[Sabaya in Filipino.]
We are wasting our time.
Their safety depends on you.
[Magalong.]
Abu Sabaya, whatever you read in the newspaper, it is different in reality.
[Sabaya.]
You are insulting our talks.
I want to know the status of our requests.
Then he said, "If you cannot deliver our demand in 48 hours, we will kill Sobero.
" [Sobero's daughter.]
Daddy, I miss you a lot.
I want you to come back home.
Please, Abu Sabaya, please, give me back my daddy because I miss him a lot.
He's everything for me.
And please don't harm him because [sniffles.]
me and my brothers are waiting for him and we need him back.
[Regini.]
Guillermo Sobero was executed.
It was heart-wrenching.
That could be me.
That could be that could be my son, my daughter.
[Sabaya speaking Filipino.]
We have beheaded one American, Guillermo Sobero.
The government might find his head in Tuburan.
They should hurry, otherwise there may be no more hostages left.
[Mary.]
I was in a state of complete panic because I was sure they were gonna get killed.
[Omar.]
What is happening in the AS is no longer the way we wanted it before.
The beheading of the American national I was disgusted.
Abu Sabaya loves violence.
He loves money.
There was a time when I almost think of killing him because he spoiled everything.
[Oreta.]
We didn't really hear a lot about our children after that.
And they didn't contact us as much, the government.
It was kind of like they'd forgotten our kids in there.
Nothing much changed throughout that summer.
Throughout the summer of, uh, 2001, it was pretty much status quo.
We weren't making much We weren't making any progress.
[Mary.]
I became aware of the fact that Martin and Gracia were just two people over in the Philippines in a jungle.
Life goes on here.
I wrote a letter to the White House, and we just kind of got blown off.
And I just made up my mind that I was gonna send a letter every three days until somebody answered me because I was not going to not be heard.
It felt like me against the world, but I think I just believed that somebody somewhere would care, and that they would do something, or that they would have the power to influence what was going on.
[speaking Filipino.]
act of war.
[reporter speaking Filipino.]
[Regini.]
The thing that changed the equation of everything was 9/11.
I was in Manila at the time.
Watched the second plane fly into the second tower from my hotel room.
[man.]
a terrorist attack.
I can't tell you anything more about it.
I saw the plane hit the building.
It changed everything.
[George W.
Bush.]
From this day forward any nation that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded by the United States as a hostile regime.
The only way to defeat terrorism as a threat to our way of life is to stop it, eliminate it and destroy it where it grows.
Our war on terror - begins with al-Qaeda - [speaking indistinctly.]
but it does not end there.
It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated.
It was probably three weeks or maybe a month later that I found an article that said that Osama bin Laden um, had been in training with Abu Sabaya, that some of his men had actually gone and trained in Afghanistan with Osama bin Laden's group.
And I thought, "That's awesome," because we want Osama bin Laden, and now there's a link between these two people.
[reporter.]
We heard some blunt words from President Bush on the war against terrorism today, when he and visiting Philippine president Gloria Arroyo met with reporters.
President Bush pledged to help the Philippines in its fight against the Islamic rebel group Abu Sayyaf, linked to the al-Qaeda terror network.
Are you prepared to go the next step, sir? Are you willing to put American combat troops on the ground there, and, President Arroyo, would your constitution allow that? [Bush.]
President Arroyo understands now is the time to make a stand against terrorist activity, whether it be in Afghanistan or in the Philippines or anywhere else al-Qaeda exists.
[Regini.]
Huge resources were turned around and put towards disruption and neutralization of the Abu Sayyaf Group.
A joint task force from the U.
S.
Special Forces and U.
S.
Air Force was deployed so that we could do something about this issue in the Philippines.
[Donald Rumsfeld.]
At the present time, we have, I believe, the last time I looked, something like 240 or 250 military personnel in the country.
And I expect that there will be several hundred more people going in.
[crowd chanting.]
U.
S.
out! [man.]
This issue of Abu Sayyaf is internal issue of the Philippines.
It is not subject for external intervention.
[Magalong.]
It's a serious issue with the Philippines if the Americans get actively involved in operations violating our sovereignty.
[man speaking Filipino on megaphone.]
[crowd chanting.]
[Magalong.]
You should understand that, since the 1980s, the U.
S.
bases have always been a serious issue in the Philippines, you know.
Even until now, you know? Because that was one of the issues.
No American boots on the ground.
They can only act as advisors.
If the Americans come in and then they did their operations, it will be a big issue.
[Arroyo.]
We shall keep the strategy of continuous pressure.
We shall not surrender the combat initiative to the enemy.
We will forge on with greater fervor and tenacity until the Abu Sayyaf is finished.
[reporter.]
This is the terrain.
A guerrilla war and foliage so thick you can't see three feet in front of you.
When soldiers here see men with guns, they fire, otherwise, they say, they run the risk of being ambushed.
[guns firing.]
These Filipino marines thought they attacked the Abu Sayyaf.
The group turned out to be civilian volunteers armed by the military.
[Mary.]
It benefited us in that these people that took Gracia and Martin, the Abu Sayyaf, who were unknown to everyone, suddenly were on everybody's radar.
But I just wanted to know that Martin and Gracia were both still alive.
That they were still out there somewhere.
[siren wailing.]
[Regini.]
In November 2001, we started to look for potential intermediaries that might have access to the location of the Burnhams.
[man speaking indistinctly on radio.]
[Regini.]
Around that time, Abu Sabaya gave access to a Filipino reporter.
[speaking Filipino.]
At that time, there was no news about them.
None whatsoever.
As if that incident didn't happen at all.
But I knew contacts that can get me to the area of the hostages, at least ascertain if they're still alive or not.
From what I knew at the time, there was a window of opportunity.
I was told that I was going to walk for four hours to get to the Burnhams.
But in reality, from the checkpoint to their location just took me 30 to 45 minutes on foot.
I was shocked that they were just very near very near the last military checkpoint.
[people speaking indistinctly.]
[Arlyn.]
I waited for just 15 minutes in one area, where other members of the ASG, most of them in their early teens 16, 14 years old.
They're just little kids.
And then after a few minutes, uh, emerging from what appears to be a makeshift tent there came out Martin and then Gracia.
[people speaking Filipino.]
[Arlyn.]
Uh, Martin, can you tell us your condition? Obviously Well, um, yes.
It's actually almost six months now, and in just a few days, it's gonna be six months that we've been here.
And, uh, our condition is deteriorating.
Uh, I guess, first of all, we'd like to send a message of, uh, love and, um our desire to return back to our families.
So we want [clears throat.]
Excuse me.
We want them to know that we're still strong, and we plan to come home at the first available minute.
- We want to come home.
- [Arlyn.]
Mmm-hmm.
Our condition is that we're not happy here.
Uh, so while we're still alive, we can, I think, be negotiated for here if somebody would be willing to do so.
Um, so I would ask my own government, even, to please In our case, could you could you negotiate or talk to these people? We've been through different encounters with the military.
I think they were called, uh, rescue attempts.
[Gracia.]
But those are very difficult [Arlyn.]
Mmm-hmm.
when you're laying on the ground and you drop.
And you run and you drop.
And, um, bullets are whizzing past your head.
And we always look at each other and I tell Martin, "I love you.
I want you to know before I die.
" Those are very hard for us.
And one of these days, in one of these encounters, those bullets aren't gonna whiz past our heads.
And we're gonna lose our lives and people are just gonna say, "Oh, well, there went the Burnhams.
Too bad.
You know, they were just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
" Uh, every time I hear even a twig snap I think it's a gunshot.
I wake up hearing gunshots.
[Gracia.]
I felt abandoned.
I felt forgotten.
This had gone on for so long.
I was faithless.
God's forgotten where we are.
We can't help ourselves, and I really appreciate you coming in so we can tell our story to others.
Just let people know that we we've been forgotten.
[sobbing.]
And then it starts all over again.
[Arlyn.]
Gracia was, of course, angry.
But Martin, he did not show any hint that he was trying to blame anyone for what happened to their situation.
He was he was in full trust that everything would be okay.
My goal is to return alive to my children, um, and to be at their side again.
- [Arlyn.]
Mmm-hmm.
- So [Gracia.]
I would tell Martin over and over, "I can't go on.
" And he said, "Gracia, go one more hour.
Just one more hour.
" "Uh, okay, I'll go one more hour.
" Everybody's hoping, even also our groups.
We are eager to set you free.
But only we are waiting for the decision of the Philippine government or the U.
S.
government.
[Arlyn.]
The Sabaya that you saw in my interview was not the Sabaya that he introduced or he projected himself to be in earlier days.
That was a different Sabaya.
Because at that time, Sabaya didn't really know who can he trust.
I think he was left alone by the other ASG commanders to negotiate for Martin and Gracia.
Martin, Gracia, I'll do my best to report truthfully about your condition here.
- [Martin.]
Thank you very much.
- You can be assured of that.
[Martin.]
Thank you very much.
Thank you also.
[reporter.]
For the first time in six months, a journalist was able to do what the Philippine military has been unable to accomplish: get within rescuing distance of two American hostages.
This is no way to live.
There's no way to take care of yourself.
[reporter.]
The chilling interview shows Kansas missionaries Gracia Burnham and her husband Martin, captive in a remote island jungle, looking thin and terrified, surrounded by heavily armed guerrillas.
[Mary.]
The first time I saw that, it took the air out of me because she was just so hopeless, you know? And basically begging somebody to have mercy on them and to help.
Last night, I woke up with severe chest pains and there's nothing you can do.
You just lay there and you're in pain.
You can't sleep.
I want the President of the United States to have to sit and watch this tape.
And then I want an explanation [scoffs.]
as to why my sister and her husband are still sitting there in the jungle.
We are still strong and we plan to come home at the first available minute.
[Mary.]
If the United States is serious about wiping out terrorism around the world, why not start with them? They are alive.
It really spurred the emotions of the U.
S.
people and our leaders at the highest levels of the U.
S.
government.
And we definitely recognized a need for a change in how the U.
S.
responds to these incidents.
[inhales deeply.]
And no doubt, this was a great opportunity.
[Paul Wolfowitz.]
The Burnhams are important.
The peace and order situation in southern Philippines is important.
They're all important.
We're doing whatever we can, and the Philippine armed forces are doing whatever they can to find and rescue the Burnhams.
[cameras clicking.]
[Arlyn.]
The Abu Sayyaf were running out of areas to hide the hostages.
And you see them in an area where they don't have any control.
That area that even the Abu Sayyaf are not so familiar with.
I think Sabaya knew that it's a matter of time, that the military will catch him.
[Gracia.]
We just hiked through the mountains and stayed one step ahead of the military.
'Cause you didn't know when the next gun battle was gonna be.
You know, the fear would just be right in my throat.
Abu Sayyaf got sick of it.
There were days we woke up, and there'd be 10, 15 guys gone.
They took their guns and they went home.
We went from this what, 80 people enthusiastic "We've got some hostages.
We're all gonna get our part of the booty of war," to this ragtag team.
There were 14 of us, maybe? [Omar.]
The group became factionalized.
Uh, relationships have been broken because of ransom.
Abu Sabaya was keeping with him the hostages because it's the card that, uh, he can use.
Unless the money will be paid to him, he will not release the hostages.
[Gracia.]
We knew that the American government didn't pay ransom.
And we knew that there was nothing about us that would ever merit a huge ransom.
We were just wishing and hoping and wanting to go home.
[reporter 1.]
There's late word now, another possible shift in the way the United States government handles hostage takers.
[reporter 2.]
Essentially, the U.
S.
is leaving the door open to paying ransom to kidnappers.
[Regini.]
The policy was signed and approved by the President of the United States.
It was a big moment for us when it was approved.
For the first time, we could actually put something on the table on behalf of the family.
We decided to use Gracia's sister to try to jump-start negotiations with the Abu Sayyaf.
[Mary.]
I remember when we were landing in Zamboanga, we flew over Basilan.
And you can't see anything.
It just looks like this very dense jungle.
I mean, you don't see any houses, you don't see any roads.
You don't see anything.
And I think I understood for the first time why it might have been so difficult to track them.
[reporter.]
Miss Burnham? Miss Burnham, can we just get a quick comment [Mary.]
I had all these State Department people and all these FBI people around me.
And there was this huge crowd of reporters that met us out on the tarmac and came in, and it was it was kind of scary.
[Gracia.]
It was Sabaya that said, "Your sister's gonna be on the radio.
" So they brought us a radio, and we got to hear Mary give this speech.
[Mary over radio.]
Hello, my name is Mary Jones.
I am the sister of Gracia Burnham, who has been held hostage in the southern Philippines for nearly eight months along with her husband Martin Burnham.
Our family misses Gracia and Martin very much, and we are extremely worried about them.
I would like to make a personal appeal to Abu Sabaya and Janjalani and the rest of the Abu Sayyaf to please not harm Martin and Gracia.
They have no money for ransom, and they are not a threat to anyone.
Harming Martin and Gracia will not solve anything, and will only deprive their children and our family of the people that we love.
Their children need them and our family needs them.
Martin and Gracia, we love you.
We hope you come home soon.
Thank you.
[Gracia.]
I should've known.
We've not been forgotten.
They care about us.
They They aren't just sitting back waiting for the status quo to happen.
[shutters clicking.]
[Regini.]
She did a great job.
She provided a phone number to the Abu Sayyaf.
And that got us in contact with them.
There was an offer that was made.
They were receptive to it.
It was much lower than their demand.
A subsequent offer was made.
Slightly more.
Not enough to raise their expectations that there was a whole lot of money but just enough to see what they would say.
They accepted.
They accepted the offer.
[Gracia.]
Sabaya told us, "Someone's gonna pay a ransom for you," and we were all gonna go home.
It's like someone had thrown us a rope to hang onto.
Some hope, some hope.
[Mary.]
I got a call right before the exchange was made, and it was Chuck, and he was telling me that it was gonna happen, and he would be back in touch with me.
We were way in now.
We were eight or nine months in at that point.
And I I just knew that this was gonna work, you know? [Regini.]
The money was all agreed to.
The Abu Sayyaf courier took the money.
It seemed all very positive that, you know, we were gonna obtain the release of the Burnhams.
We knew that it would take some time.
We had about a week that we anticipated the wait time would be.
It became ten days.
Now we're into two weeks.
We began to get suspicious, though.
Something was not right.
It was taking too long.
[phone ringing.]
[Gracia.]
The Abu Sayyaf said, "Someone's paid a ransom for you but it's not enough and we're gonna ask for more.
" [reporter.]
The U.
S.
government was involved in arranging the payment of a ransom to the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group in the Philippines.
It was meant to secure the release of an American couple being held hostage [reporter 2.]
Defense Secretary Rumsfeld opposed this idea and was overruled.
The FBI, White House and State Department arguing that it was worth violating the administration's own policy on paying ransom in order to at least try because these American missionaries would probably be killed.
[Regini.]
We had every indication that we were gonna be successful.
It was hugely disappointing for everyone involved.
I felt we had let them down.
[reporter.]
The U.
S.
government helped pay $300,000 as ransom.
The cash was handed to an individual who claimed ties to the terrorist group, but the U.
S.
was never able to verify that he delivered the money.
The money was not received by Sabaya.
It is being kept by other people.
I think the group had split by then.
And I think the big bunch of the money went to the guys who were out in town, and just a little trickle came into the group that had us.
[Omar.]
Sabaya was trying to reach them that the money must be presented to him, but it wasn't delivered actually.
[Gracia.]
By that time, we were so tired and hungry and worn out, we didn't care.
I was ready to die.
There were days I told Martin "I'm done.
I'm not walking anymore.
I'm not taking a step.
They can shoot me if they want to.
I'm finished.
I'm staying right here.
" And I watched a difference in Martin.
Martin had always been the upbeat one.
"We're gonna make it home.
You know, just keep going.
" And I saw a difference in him.
I think he started thinking he would not go home.
I hated those guys for what they were doing to us, for the pain they were causing our family.
I hated them.
I was a good soldier for Islam.
But then I saw the atrocities committed by the group.
And I decided then to get out rather than struggle with people who are taking advantage of Islam for their own interests.
[dog barking in distance.]
[Oreta.]
It was hard to think that it's a year and they still are not out.
[Paul.]
We didn't know where they were or what was going on.
We knew their military was still trying.
[Oreta.]
And I said one time, I said, you know, "Don't you have any way of getting our children out of there?" I said, "You're gonna have to get them out or they're gonna die in there.
" [Regini.]
We continued to try to engage Abu Sabaya in communication to try to understand how can we move to a resolution on this.
We understand that this other deal didn't happen for you.
Um so how can we work together to get past it? [man.]
I think that we are very much going in the right direction, continuing to apply greater and greater military pressure to the Abu Sayyaf Group.
It is in their interest to release both the Burnhams unharmed.
[Regini.]
It was clear that those involved at the decision-making level in-country and back in the States, you know, were interested in pursuing other methods.
[crowd yelling.]
You know, understand the pressure on the different governments by their own citizens then, you know.
This actually makes it very complex.
[crowd yelling.]
[Arroyo.]
President Bush assured us of the continuing help of the United States in pushing our operations forward.
We will forge on with greater fervor and tenacity until the Abu Sayyaf is finished.
[Mary.]
I think that the Philippine military felt the pressure to produce the end result that we wanted.
[Arroyo.]
The location of the Abu Sayyaf has been pinpointed, although the terrain is expansive and difficult to operate in.
- [radio static.]
- [man speaking indistinctly.]
[Gracia.]
This last morning, we started a long hike up into the mountains.
This little group of weak, exhausted people walking through the jungle We hadn't eaten in nine days.
[thunder rumbling.]
[man speaking indistinctly.]
[Gracia.]
Right about noon, it clouded up to rain as it often did and we stopped and we set up our hammocks.
The rain was just pelting on the the plastic.
And Martin said "Gracia, I've been thinking about Psalm 100 today.
Especially that first verse that talks about serving the Lord with gladness.
" He said, "This does not seem like serving the Lord.
We've been walking through the jungle for over a year.
But let's accept that we're serving the Lord here, and let's do it with gladness.
" [chuckles softly.]
He was always saying such good things.
We prayed together and suddenly I was shot immediately, in the leg, and flipped out of the hammock, went sliding down the hill, it was so wet and slick.
And I came to rest beside Martin.
And I looked over at him, and he was bleeding from his chest.
Breathing really loudly, almost snoring.
And, um saw that this big blood stain was getting bigger and bigger on his chest.
[breathing heavily.]
All of a sudden, he got heavy.
I felt him.
And, um, I think that was the weight of death.
I think he died right then.
It's almost like you're outside of yourself, watching this scene.
Um 'Cause this is not what we'd been praying for.
[scoffs.]
This wasn't the ending we wanted.
Um, but by that time, the fight was out of me and, uh, I just lay there and I thought, "Okay.
Okay, this is it.
This isn't how I would have ended the story, but this is it.
" [sighs.]
[Magalong.]
I cannot blame the armed forces for shooting the hostages because I know what they've gone through.
I've been there before.
Bullets just simply flew anywhere, you know? I should have been happy, you know, if I'd known that during that operation many of the Abu Sayyaf were annihilated, something like that.
But um um I don't know what to say.
[mutters.]
I don't know what to say.
[Regini.]
There's no place in this planet for terrorism.
That doesn't mean that we have to disregard hostages' lives and go immediately in and try to take out terrorist hostage takers.
That the only option available in these situations is a military approach.
Um, why would we do that? You know, I often hear, "Well, we can't talk to these guys anymore.
We gotta go right in.
" I think that that's a bad decision.
I think it's a decision that's made based upon the emotions of the moment and we're not and we're not looking at it carefully.
[Bush.]
First, let me say how sad we are that, uh, Martin Burnham lost his life.
And I will call his parents.
Um, I'm pleased that Mrs.
Burnham's alive.
[stutters.]
That's good.
[Mary.]
That has always been just a terrible burden on my heart, that they both didn't come home.
And I felt like, and I think I still feel like I didn't do enough.
Or I should have started sooner.
[sniffles.]
Or maybe I should've pushed harder.
But you just don't know what to do when something like that happens 'cause you're not expecting it.
Martin loved this country with all his heart.
I return to the States this morning to rejoin my children and to put my life back together.
[Gracia.]
Dear heavenly Father, we are grateful for today, for your grace in our lives and for days past that you've been faithful to us.
And thank you for family.
Pray that you would bless the food.
We know that it came from your hand, too, and we're so grateful to you.
[Gracia.]
"Who are the bad guys?" Martin and I would talk about that.
The bad guys are the ones feeding you, shielding you in a gun battle.
The good guys are the ones shooting at you 'cause it all became just mixed up in your mind.
We were just caught in this story, this happening.
[indistinct chatter.]
I don't dream about what happened in the jungle.
I never have terrors at night.
And all these years down the road, I'm losing some of those fine details, and that bothers me a bit.
I find myself wishing I could remember.
'Cause I think that's all I have left of Martin.
[softly.]
Yeah.
[somber music playing.]