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Philippine Gunmen Ambush U.S. Sailors, One Missing

MANILA (Reuters) - A U.S. Navy sailor was missing on Tuesday after gunmen who identified themselves as communist rebels opened fire on a group of American and Philippine navy personnel on a mountain trek north of Manila.

The mountain-climbers, comprising five U.S. sailors with four Filipino navymen, were descending Mount Pinatubo volcano when the gunmen attacked, triggering an exchange of fire with the armed Filipinos, officials said. The Americans were unarmed.

No one was hurt in the shoot-out but one of the Americans was missing, a U.S. diplomat said.

Private tour operator Rene Wise, who arranged the trip, said on local television the missing American was trailing several hundred meters (yards) behind his companions when the shooting broke out ``and was able to retreat.''

Police said they had launched a search for him.

``We have no reason to believe he was kidnapped, but we have to find him,'' an Embassy spokesman told Reuters.

A senior Philippine official, who asked not to be named, said the missing American might have lost his way down the volcano's slopes after the shoot-out.

The Embassy, in a statement, said the five U.S. Navy personnel were ambushed ``by a group of eight armed people, who identified themselves as members of the New People's Army,'' a leftist group fighting for a Marxist state in the Philippines for more than three decades.

Fears that the missing American might have been kidnapped were apparently sparked by the recent abduction by Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf rebels of three American tourists and 17 Filipinos in the southern Philippines.

Philippine troops have launched an offensive against the Abu Sayyaf kidnappers to recover their captives.

The five U.S. sailors are part of American forces taking part in joint military exercises in the Philippines.

The Embassy said the sailors climbed the Pinatubo volcano during their free time.

Pinatubo, 60 miles north of Manila, has become a tourist attraction after it erupted in 1991 in one of the century's biggest volcanic blasts. More than 800 people died in the eruption.

abs-cbnnews.com
June 7, 2001

Aetas Find Missing US Navy Officer

Missing US Navy Lt. (junior grade) Scott Washburn was found at 10:45 p.m. Wednesday night by two Aeta tribesmen near Clark Industrial Estate in Pampanga.

In an interview with abs-cbnNEWS.com, Angelo Lopez of Clark Development Corp. (CDC) confirmed that the American serviceman was seen wandering in the vicinity of Sitio Sablis, Barangay Sapang Bato, Angeles City.

Tribesmen identified as Patricio Gutierrez and Rafael Pan said they were resting in their homes when they heard cries of help from outside.

When they opened their window, they saw the haggard-looking American walking aimlessly in the vicinity, wet from the rain and shivering.

Washburn was later escorted by tribesmen to the CDC gate and met by Col. Renato Rosete of the base security detachment.

He was promptly turned over to Philippine Air Force authorities under Col. Pete Soledad and Col. Charles Hotchkiss of the 1st Tactical Operations Wing.

Hours before Washburn was found, President Arroyo ordered the Philippine National Police command in Central Luzon and the military Northern Luzon Command (Nolcom) to conduct an "intensified operation" to locate the missing US Navy officer.

Washburn was reported missing during a trek on Mount Pinatubo with four other US Navy servicemen and four Philippine Navy escorts. Reports said they encountered an armed group as they were on the way down, and a firefight ensued.

Rosete said that Washburn, having been trained in escape and evasion tactics, managed to slip away from the armed group who was holding them. "He eventually got lost until escaping from his captors."

Armed groups could have been behind the two-day disappearance of Washburn, Nolcom commander Maj. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia told radio dzMM Thursday morning.

"Intelligence reports indicate there are armed groups in the vicinity of Mt. Pinatubo, like the New People's Army, the [Rebolusyonaryong Hukbo ng Bayan] and criminal gangs like the Salaguinto group operating in the area," Garcia said.

The Marxist RHB, through its spokesman Red Olalia, had earlier denied that it had a hand in Washburn's disappearance.

Hotchkiss said that Washburn had told him he started walking stealthily at 7 p.m. Wednesday, and it took him three hours to get near the lighted area of the former Clark Air Base. "He wasn't sure if the armed men they encountered were NPA rebels."

Washburn said he was happy to be back and thanked the people who helped him.

Washburn recounts his ordeal

MANILA (Reuters) - A U.S. Navy officer who went missing on the slopes of a Philippine volcano told rescuers how he spent hours hiding in the bushes to avoid detection by gunmen who had ambushed his mountain-climbing party, officials said on Thursday.

At one point, Lieutenant junior grade Scott Washburn said he saw a Philippine Air Force helicopter passing overhead but the searchers aboard failed to see him.

Washburn's 33-hour ordeal on the slopes of Mount Pinatubo north of Manila ended on Wednesday night when he stumbled into a settlement of local Aeta tribesmen, knocked on a hut and said: "My friends, can you help me?"

The tribesmen then took him to the nearest police detachment which later handed him over to Philippine military officials at the former U.S. Clark air base in Pampanga.

"He was tired and hungry and officials gave him pizzas," Elmer Cato, spokesman for a Philippine presidential commission working with visiting U.S. military forces, told Reuters.

Washburn and four other U.S. Navy sailors were on a trekking expedition on Pinatubo on Tuesday when gunmen who identified themselves as guerrillas of the Marxist New People's Army (NPA) surrounded them and opened fire.

After a long stand-off, the gunmen released the other American sailors and their Philippine Navy escorts -- but not before they took the Filipinos' assault rifles and pistols.

Washburn, who was trailing about 200 meters (yards) behind his companions when the shooting broke out, said he at first thought there had been some accidental firing but took cover after he heard more volleys of gunfire.

During the shooting, some of the bullets fired by the gunmen ricocheted off the ground near where he was hiding, Cato said, quoting the U.S. sailor.

Washburn told Philippine officials he spent most of his time hiding in the vegetation on the volcano's slopes before he ventured out of his hiding place some time on Wednesday.

Moon over Washburn

"He said it was the first time he really appreciated nature. On Tuesday evening he saw a beautiful moon and wanted to take a picture of it but he was afraid the flash of his camera would reveal his location," Cato said.

On Wednesday, after trekking for hours down the volcano, he came upon the Aeta settlement and finally found a friendly face.

"I am very hungry," he told the Aetas.

"He looked very happy when he saw us," Cato quoted one of the tribesman as saying.

Philippine armed forces spokesman Brigadier-General Edilberto Adan said the Filipino sailors escorting the Americans did not fight back when the gunmen burst upon the mountain climbers.

"They were held for about 30 minutes and then they were set free. The bandits (told them they) were only after their firearms," Adan said.

"They did not resist because they were surprised, they were surrounded."

Washburn's disappearance had raised worries that he might have been kidnapped. Muslim rebels are holding three Americans and at least 17 Filipinos in the south of the country and have been fighting with troops there over the past five days.

The five U.S. sailors are part of American forces taking part in joint military exercises in the Philippines. The U.S. Embassy said the sailors climbed Pinatubo during their free time.

Pinatubo, 100 km (60 miles) north of Manila, has become a tourist attraction after it erupted in 1991 in one of the century's biggest volcanic blasts. More than 800 people died in the eruption.

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