Dos Palmas

Photo courtesy of Clay Carlson

Rather an idyllic setting at first glance, but the berthing area and over the water cottages at Dos Palmas , an upscale beach resort in the Puerto Princessa area of Palawan, Philippines proved to be a spring board for terror in the early morning hours of Sunday May 27th.

On May 21st, myself, Jerry Allen also of San Diego, and Clay Carlson of Guam, checked into a Garden Cottage somewhat removed from the water cottages pictured to the left. The motivation was purely financial as the garden cottages were much cheaper! The water cottages were mostly filled with honeymooners or wealthy Filipinos. The husband of one couple we made a casual acquaintance was also a diver. Another couple were upgraded to the cottages the afternoon before the abduction !

It was very easy to fall into a routine at Dos Palmas, the food was excellent and we had our own dive guide Manny to explore local dive sites. Parents and children were at play at the many recreational pursuits offered at Dos Palmas. No one had an inkling of the terror that was to befall the resort the morning of the 27th.

The morning of the 27th got off to an early start for the three of us as we were scheduled to depart the resort for Manila later in the morning. Clay and I were up and around 5:00 AM but were unaware of anything amiss until Clay went to get a cup of coffee in the main pavilion around 5:20-5:30 AM. At that time two female staff members were observed running into the women's restroom crying. A male staff member instructed Clay to go back to his room. The females evidently had just been released from temporary custody by the Abu Sayyaf. Around 6:00 AM the resort manager and two males with rifles were seen on the path in front of the room. Later on around 6:30 AM Jerry was advised by the manager of the abduction. The full dimensions of the tragedy sank in when many empty place setting were observed later at breakfast. Later that morning we had an armed escort in transit from the resort to Puerto Princessa .

Thats pretty much it from our perspective! We neither saw or heard anything while the abduction was going on! Twenty plus heavily armed rebels pull into the berthing area around 4:45 to 5:00 AM in the morning. Disarm the security guard, tear down all the lights and start knocking on the doors of the water cottage occupants. In less than fifteen to twenty minutes its all over and the boat is underway with the hostages in tow.

Were there any red flags on the horizon as to the abduction? Possibly, the prevailing thought was what had happened at Pearl Farm on May 22nd couldn't happen at Dos Palmas. The assault on Pearl Farm involved heavy machine guns and grenade launchers. We should have known that a sleepy security guard with an Armalite was no match for this kind of firepower!

The current news (06/03/2001) reports nine of the original Dos Palmas hostages in government custody. Sadly two (2) of the original group (resort employees) have been killed by Abu Sayyaf. The three (3) original American hostages are reported to be alive but still hostages. The abduction at Dos Palmas has escalated into full scale warfare on the island of Basilan with the taking of additional hostages.

My advice is curtail any projected travel to the Philippines until Abu Sayyaf is eradicated. In my opinion, they have the means and equipment to strike just about anywhere in the southern areas of the Philippines. I say this with a heavy heart having dove in the Philippines for so many years. The Philippine military and police forces were evidently spread thin by the elections and Abu Sayyaf took full advantage of this situation. A very sad affair indeed. Please include the hostages in your prayers.

The Webmaster
June 2001