Related articles and links |  1 of 3

Previous page: "Ransoms—That's what Jesus did, right?" (Go to the beginning of the interview)

In one of the first messages you sent out [during a radio interview arranged by your captors], the Abu Sayyaf told you very explicitly, "Tell the Armed Forces of the Philippines to pull back. Stop shooting." But later, it sounds like the message was heartfelt when you said, "Stop shooting. Coming with guns blazing is just going to get us killed." Was that you speaking at that stage?

Yes. One time, Martin wrote a letter to a certain colonel. [The captors] told Martin, "The colonel in charge of this area is so and so. Would you like to write him a letter and ask him to stop the campaign?" And that's all he said. Martin wrote the whole letter and told him a bunch of good reasons to stop" How did Martin say it? The Abu Sayyaf are going to survive this campaign, but the hostages are not. That was very heartfelt. No one told us to say that.

Were there things you were actually forbidden from communicating?

No.

Immediately when you guys were taken hostage, New Tribes Mission issued a press release that was widely circulated, but then there was an effort to tone the publicity down.

They told our families the same thing.

They didn't want to raise …

… our value.

Do you think that made any difference either way?

I don't know. That may have made a difference for Guillermo [Sobero, who was executed].

The Abu Sayyaf were very upset that there was a news blackout in the Philippines. [They thought] if they raised a big stink, probably somebody would have come forward sooner with a ransom. Maybe. I don't know. I've met so many people since I've been in the States who have said, "We wanted to raise a ransom for you. We started it. We could have gotten a ransom together for you, but so and so would not let that happen." Sometimes they named the FBI. Sometimes they named a member of the family. Sometimes they named the mission. So maybe if it had been a big, huge thing … Who really cares, I guess. It didn't happen.

You're very strong willed throughout the book. You had times of breaking down, but you seem like you never lost sight of certain things. Like you say, you never lost sight of who the enemy is. What do you think protected you from the Stockholm Syndrome?

Probably Martin and I in conversation. I did watch a news clip, where they had shown part of [our videotaped] interview. And I said something about how "I really love these kids in here. I wish I could do something for them. I'd do anything for these boys." And they mentioned that was a Stockholm syndrome thing. Maybe it was.

On the other hand, we were seeing life for these kids the way it really was. And maybe it's just because Martin and I would talk everything out. We would remind ourselves this kid's here for money. Right? He wants to get married. The only way to get a dowry is to get some money, and there's no money in his family and there's no job available. So he joined the Abu Sayyaf. You make your wad, you go home, and you get married. A lot of them don't even believe in the holiness of jihad.

So many of the other hostages converted to Islam, and stayed Muslim even after they were set free. They would say things like, "The Abu Sayyaf is bad, but I've seen the true light of Islam."

[Our captors] would come to us and say, "Are you ready to convert to Islam?" And I would look at them like What on earth have I seen here that would ever make me want to convert to Islam? All I've seen is a lot of double talk and a lot of people who don't really know what they believe. I used to ask Martin, "Why on earth would they think we were ready to convert to Islam? They're marching us through a jungle with guns on our backs."

next page... |  1 of 3

May (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47