"Deathbed" Confession Transcript -- World Exclusive
Posted April 19, 2002

The following interview with ELMINA ABDUL, widow of EDWIN ANGELES, one of the cofounders of the ABU SAYYAF GROUP (ASG), and deep cover agent for the Defense Intelligence Group (DIG) of the Department of National Defense (DND), of the Republic of the Philippines, was taken on March 10, 2002, in the presence of CHRISTOPHER M. PUNO, Information Officer of the Province of Basilan, at BASCOM Hospital, in the general ward.

TRANSLATED TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW WITH ELMINA ABDUL, WIDOW TO EDWIN ANGELES TAKEN AT BASILAN COMMUNITY HOSPITAL GENERAL WARD ISABELA CITY, PROVINCE OF BASILAN REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES BY DORIAN ZUMEL SICAT NEWS CORRESPONDENT MANILA TIMES, OMEGA NEWS SERVICE (USA)

(After introduction to ELMINA ABDUL by Provincial Information Officer Christopher Puno)

NOTE: I interviewed ELMINA in Tagalog, she answered me in Chavacano and Cebuano, two of the local dialects spoken in Basilan. She did not speak in the indigenous dialect because she knew that I do not speak or understand that dialect.

DZS: Good morning Ms. Angeles

DZS: How are you feeling this morning?

EA: Not very well.

DZS: Do you feel like talking with me?

EA: Yes, but not so long. I am tired.

DZS: I will try to be as short as possible. Did Chris tell you what I am here to talk to you about?

EA: Yes. And I am the one who asked him to look for you after I was told that you are interested in the truth about my husband.

DZS: Good. Okay. You are not Edwin's first wife, is that true?

EA: Yes. I am his third wife. For Muslim men, they can have even four wives, if each of the other ones approve.

DZS: How, when and where did you meet Edwin?

EA: We met when he was in the Provincial Jail here in Isabela, in 1995. I was then working for the government radio station, dxOS (Philippine Information Agency)/PIA.

DZS: That was after his capture?

EA: Yes.

DZS: When did you marry him?

EA: In 1997.

DZS: I am going to ask you some very sensitive questions now. Is that all right with you?

EA: Yes. I want to tell the truth of what I know of my late husband.

DZS: Did you know that he was one of those who founded the ASG, along with the late Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani, in 1991?

EA: Yes. I know also why he was one of them.

DZS: Can you tell me why?

EA: Yes, I want to tell you why. I want now to tell the truth about my husband. I will die soon. I want you to know the truth. Will you write the truth, Mr. Sicat?

DZS: Yes. I will. I promise.

EA: You are not afraid?

DZS: More than you know, Mrs. Angeles.

EA: Good. Maybe you will stay alive and safe because of your fear. I will tell you that Edwin was ordered to do that.

DZS: Can you explain please.

EA: He was what they call a deep penetration agent or DPA.

DZS: Can you explain please?

EA: As I told you, he was given orders.

DZS: By whom?

EA: Some very powerful men in the DND.

DZS: Did he tell you why?

EA: No. Only that he was ordered to help to organize the ASG and to report all developments.

DZS: Did he tell you who it was?

EA: Not by names. But he told my only at the highest levels.

DZS: Did he ever tell you about his activities in the ASG before he met you?

EA: He told me everything. I do not believe that he would hide anything from me when we were talking alone.

DZS: Please do not be offended, but how do you know that?

EA: Not only because I was his wife, but because he knew that he would soon be killed. He wanted me to know everything so that if anything happened to him I could tell others.

DZS: Do you want to stop now?

EA: No. More water please.

DZS: Can I ask you about some things that happened back in the mid-90s? 1993, 1994?

EA: Yes. I will try to answer what you ask.

DZS: Did he ever talk to you about meetings with Arabs or Americans?

EA: Yes, once he had met with some Arabs and Americans in 1994, in Davao (City), or General Santos (City).

DZS: Did he tell you who they were?

EA: Does the name Ramsey Yousef mean something to you Mr. Sicat?

DZS: Ahmad Hassim. Does that mean something to you?

EA: He had met with them. And an American who he called Terry or the Farmer, and another American whom he did not name.

DZS: Was the American he named as Terry, Terry Nichols?

EA: He did not mention the surname. Only Terry.

DZS: Did he tell you why and how many times they had met?

EA: They met almost every day for one week. They met in an empty bodega (warehouse). They talked about bombings. They mentioned bombing government buildings in San Francisco, Saint Louis and in Oklahoma. The Americans wanted instructions how to make and to explode bombs. He (Edwin) told me that Janjalani was very interested in paying them much money to explode the buildings. The money was coming from Yousef and the other Arab.

DZS: Did he tell you when the bombs would explode; when they exploded?

EA: He told me that the Americans exploded one bomb in Oklahoma in 1995, after he was arrested and after we first met.

DZS: Did he ever tell you who was supplying the money for the bombing of the building, I mean who Yousef was working with or for?

EA: Mr. Sicat, you are the mediaman. Do you not know that Yousef was representing Iraq and Saddam Hussein? Do you not know that?

DZS: Did Edwin tell you that?

EA: Not only Edwin, but others that were close to us, before he was killed. One time, a soldier (Philippine Army) and Edwin were talking secretly. I was there because Edwin demanded. The soldier ordered Edwin never to tell anybody about the Iraqis.

DZS: Did you ever see that soldier before or after that time?

EA: Only two times before. He was the one who would talk to him for information.

DZS: Mrs. Angeles, do you know who killed your husband, Edwin?

EA: The ones who used him and then betrayed him, Mr. Sicat. (She grows visibly weaker). I want to rest now.

DZS: I understand. I'll let you rest now. Thank you so much, Mrs. Angeles. You have told me so much. I will try to see you tomorrow if you are up to it.

NOTE: I was not able to speak with ELMINA again. She became too weak and incoherent the following day. A few days later, the doctors had diagnosed that she was terminal. She needed to be transferred to Davao City to the Regional Hospital (government) for treatment. A few days later, while I was in Davao, arranging for her admission to the Regional Hospital, Chris told me that she could no longer be moved. She would die in transit. Since Muslims require burial within 24 hours of death, I understood the reasoning. The following day, Chris contacted me that ELMINA ABDUL, widow to EDWIN ANGELES (killed by unknown assailants in 1998), died in the pre-dawn hours Saturday March 30. She was the last one to talk with her husband before he was killed. I was the last and only reporter to talk with her about her husband before she died.

(sgd) DORIAN ZUMEL SICAT
News Correspondent
Manila Times /Omega News Service (USA)
Investigative Liaison to Law Office of John Michael Johnston
Robert Bickel, Sr.
Senior Investigator and Legal Analyst

Law offices of John Michael Johnston
Elmina Abdul Angeles Statement