LAMITAN, Philippines (AP) - Traveling around his remote southern Philippine province, Roman Catholic priest Cirilo Nacorda carries a Bible - and a pistol.
The extra cargo would be unusual for most men of the cloth. But in violence-prone Basilan, where Nacorda has organized a 3,000-member armed group to defend Christians, the priest says his .45-caliber gun is a necessity.
The predominantly Muslim island province, about 550 miles south of Manila, is the birthplace of the dreaded Abu Sayyaf rebels, who captured international attention again on May 27 when they kidnapped 20 people, including three Americans, from a luxury resort.
Nacorda himself was kidnapped by the group in 1994, and he has been caught more than once in the crossfire from the Muslim guerrillas, prompting him to arm himself and organize others to defend Christians on Basilan against the Abu Sayyaf.
``We cannot protect our lives by just prayers or dialogue. We have to be practical,'' said the 44-year-old Nacorda, who is parish priest of Basilan's coastal town of Lamitan, scene of the Abu Sayyaf's most recent terror.
Close to midnight on June 1, about 70 Abu Sayyaf guerrillas burst into a small hospital, a nearby church and a convent at the heart of Lamitan's dusty downtown, dragging along their hostages from the distant island resort.
Lamitan, home to more than 60,000 people thriving mostly on coconut farming and fishing, is especially coveted by the Abu Sayyaf. The town, along with the provincial capital of Isabela, are the only two places dominated by Christians in Basilan.
Nacorda said he was cornered by two young rebels who pointed their guns at him outside the church at the start of the assault, but he ran away before they could fire.
The men shot to death Nacorda's driver and a church worker, apparently mistaking one of them for him, yelling ``The priest is dead!''
Despite mortar and rocket bombardment by army troops, tanks and helicopters, the rebels managed to escape with their hostages the following day.
It was a major embarrassment to the military and President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who has vowed to wipe out the Abu Sayyaf.
The morning after the siege, Lamitan residents woke to an ugly scene: smoldering debris where a house used to stand, concrete walls and iron gates riddled with bullet holes, sunlight filtering through a roof damaged by a rifle-fired grenade.
Elderly residents say the sight was too familiar. In the early 1970s, they watched as Lamitan was practically leveled by intense air and ground bombardment ordered by then-President Ferdinand Marcos against attacking Muslim guerrillas.
The Abu Sayyaf, founded by Islamic radicals from Basilan, claims it is fighting for Islamic independence in the southern Philippines, a mostly Catholic country. Arroyo regards them as a band of criminals deserving ``the peace of the graveyard.''
Since their emergence in the early 1990s, the Abu Sayyaf has kidnapped or killed foreign and local Catholic missionaries and launched attacks on churches on Basilan and nearby Jolo Island.
In the past, the rebel group has demanded that crosses be removed from Basilan and that Catholic priests stop preaching there.
In 1994, Abu Sayyaf guerrillas snatched Nacorda while traveling in Lantawan town, a known rebel stronghold. Afterward, the guerrillas flagged down two vehicles, separated the passengers by religion and massacred about 15 Christians.
During 61 days in captivity, Nacorda said he was tortured. The rebels frequently hit him with rifle butts and fists or pointed guns at his face. One rebel used him as a sort of target while hurling a knife into a wooden wall, with the blade always missing him by less than a foot.
Nacorda said he and other hostages were freed through negotiations. Some were ransomed by relatives.
Three years later, Nacorda said he organized an armed group of Christians called ``Concerned Basilans'' partly meant to establish a ``balance of power'' with the Abu Sayyaf. The group now numbers more than 3,000.
``If we are given only the opportunity to do our part,'' he said, ``I believe the rebels can never enter Lamitan that easily again.''
AP-NY-06-09-01 1140EDT
Copyright 2001 The Associated Press.