Yes, she had parents and family there. Marife's father was a traffic policeman in Cebu City. Stephen Jones in his book makes a convincing case that Nichols was meeting with associates of Osama bin Laden in the Philippines to discuss the subject of terrorism.
Specifically, at one meeting the three topics were: bombing activities;providing firearms and ammunition; training in making and handling bombs. This was at a meeting with Ramzi Yousef. Ironically, today Yousef is in a U.S. prison cell, having been convicted of a plot to blow up 12 U.S. jetliners, all on the same day. Ramzi Yousef and others were convicted on 9-5-96 for the plot to bomb the airliners.
These same Muslims(Yousef and his buddies) were also planning to assasinate the Pope in the Philippines, indicating this is more than a war just against the U.S.