Philippine military and police chiefs flew to Jolo Sunday to assess a nine-day hostage rescue operation that is taking longer than expected.
General Angelo Reyes and police Director-General Panfilo Lacson boarded military helicopters for an overnight visit to the remote island the country's south, where Abu Sayyaf gunmen are holding an American, three Malaysians and 13 Filipinos.
Neither spoke to the press but pledged to brief a pool of about three dozen journalists who are set to sail for Jolo late Sunday in the first officially-sanctioned visit to the island, which is in the grips of a strict naval quarantine.
President Joseph Estrada sent more than 4,000 troops and police to Jolo on September 16 to rescue 19 hostages and "destroy" the Abu Sayyaf, a Muslim separatist group which kidnapped 10 western tourists and 11 resort staff in Malaysia in April.
The task force assured Estrada the campaign would take only "three days to one week," but it has little to show except for taking credit for the escape of two French hostages last Tuesday.
Military experts have warned that the campaign could take months.
Reflecting the unease, the local press on Sunday backed away from its unconditional support for the assault. It demanded access to the island to observe the campaign and verify allegations of high civilian casualties.
"Very limited and conflicting information is coming out about the hostage 'rescue operation'," said Roman Catholic priest Joaquin Bernas, one of the framers of the Philippine constitution.
"A reliable count of slain and wounded on both sides and an honest account of the effect of the campaign on the civilian population" would not hinder military operations, he wrote in the Today newspaper.
The official toll is 28 guerrillas, two civilians and a soldier dead, plus at least 15,000 civilians displaced.
The military gives daily news briefing in this southern city, but Sunday's conference was canceled without explanation.
Reports filtering out of the 897-square-kilometer (345 square-mile) island suggest higher civilian casualties with the military's heavy dependence on artillery and bomber aircraft.
Columnist Federico Pascual wrote in the Philippine Star that "the war has not graduated from being a mere massive search and destroy campaign."
He suggested that Estrada was "now looking for an excuse to stop the war that is not being won by anybody, including the government."
Estrada launched the campaign after suffering months of humiliation at the hands of the gunmen who repeatedly took new captives after ransoming off earlier ones for millions of dollars.
Earlier Sunday, the Philippine Inquirer reported that the Muslim guerrillas are treating US captive Jeffrey Schilling "worse than a dog".
A government negotiator briefly saw the American during a visit to an Abu Sayyaf camp on Friday, it quoted Jolo vice governor Munib Estino as saying.
Schilling's "hands were tied and he was tied in a corner. He was being treated worse than a dog," Estino said.
The negotiator observed that the hostage's hands and feet were covered with sores while residents saw a gunman kicking the hostage from behind as they moved to another camp, he added -- ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (AFP)
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