FR. MICHAEL SINNOTT FREED WITH
NO RANSOM, CLEARS MILF GUERRILLAS
[PHOTO
AT LEFT - Irish priest Michael Sinnott faces the press at Villamor Airbase
following his release yesterday. Willy Perez
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines]
ZAMBOANGA CITY, NOVEMBER 14, 2009 (STAR) By Roel Pareño - After a month in captivity, 79-year-old Irish priest Michael Sinnott was released early yesterday without any ransom, authorities said.
Sinnott said he was not harmed, but he complained of arduous journeys as kidnappers took him through jungles and sea to evade government troops.
“They treated me very well. The conditions there were primitive, but they did their best to make things as easy as possible for me,” Sinnott told reporters before boarding a plane to Manila, hours after he was set free.
“I am happy because I am now free,” Sinnott said in the Visayan dialect.
Sinnott said he was not angry with the kidnappers, whom the government and the military suspected to be rogue elements of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
Sinnott, however, said he was certain that his kidnappers were not MILF guerrillas.
“It was not the MILF, I am very sure about that, but members of a lost command led by a certain Pikay,” the elderly priest told a news conference shortly after his arrival in Manila.
Sinnott said his abductors introduced themselves as tribesmen who just wanted international recognition of their struggle to take back the lands supposedly taken from them.
“They gave me lectures on their ideology but apart from that, they treated me well. It was not the MILF because I have learned and I was told that it is against the teachings of the Koran,” he added.
Sinnott claimed his kidnappers were “mostly very kind” and tried to engage him about their ideology in the first few days, before finally admitting they hoped to raise money, although no ransom was paid.
Sinnott said he was kept in a forested area, where he slept most of the time in a makeshift hammock, sometimes sharing it with his guards.
Six armed men snatched Sinnott from his missionary home in Pagadian City on Oct. 11.
The gunmen took Sinnott by speedboat and went into the jungles spanning the boundaries of Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur, an area supposedly controlled by the MILF.
Officials had feared Sinnott could suffer a fatal heart attack because he was still recovering from heart-bypass surgery.
Rumors even persisted that the priest died in captivity until a video came out in which his kidnappers demanded $2 million in ransom.
Sinnott later declared, “There was no ransom paid for my release.”
Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin also reiterated no ransom was paid.
Martin thanked the Irish and Philippine governments for the successful conclusion of the hostage crisis.
Irish President Mary McAleese called Sinnott’s freedom the answer to the shared prayers of millions in both countries.
And Prime Minister Brian Cowen said the government of Ireland would help Sinnott enjoy “a speedy reunion with his family and friends.”
Nevertheless, after decades in the Philippines as a missionary for the Society of Saint Columbans, Sinnott said he wanted to continue living in the region.
“I hope I can go back to Pagadian City and stay there for a few more years to continue my missionary work… I don’t think they would kidnap me for the second time because I’m old… I think they’d be glad to kidnap a younger man next time,” a tired-looking and teary-eyed Sinnott told reporters.
Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) chief Maj. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino said Sinnott was turned over to the joint ceasefire committee by the MILF task force who helped in the search and rescue of Sinnott.
Dolorfino said Sinnott was freed about 4 a.m. in the coastal village of Barangay Sangali in Zamboanga City.
He said Sinnott was immediately given a medical check-up at the Westmincom headquarters before his flight to Manila.
“He’s very weak and appeared disoriented,” Dolorfino said.
The MILF said they helped in negotiating the release of the priest as a way to show sincerity in the peace process.
MILF vice chairman for political affairs Ghadzali Jaafar said the MILF did what it had to do as a partner in the peace panel. He said the efforts to free Sinnott were made for “humanitarian reasons.”
Jaafar also stressed no ransom was paid in securing Sinnott, adding the MILF would also help track down the kidnappers.
‘Moral influence’
Malacañang welcomed the release of Sinnott but ordered the continued manhunt for the kidnappers.
“The safe release of Fr. Sinnott is welcome. We thank all those responsible for this (release), especially our soldiers and policemen, the local crisis management committee and the MILF,” Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said.
Remonde also commended Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Rafael Seguis as GRP peace panel chairman for his role in securing the release of Sinnott after 31 days in captivity.
Seguis, for his part, said the government’s primary concern was to secure Sinnott’s release.
“We have accomplished that goal,” he remarked.
Seguis led the delegation of the GRP and the joint ceasefire committee chairmen Maj. Gen. Reynaldo Sealana and MILF’s Toks Ebrahim in receiving Sinnott.
“Our forces on the ground exerted moral influence on the kidnappers to get the priest out,” MILF peace panel chairman Mohaqher Iqbal said.
According to Iqbal, the kidnappers agreed to free Sinnott after they were convinced by their relatives of the consequences of their offense.
He said the MILF team that was tasked to find the priest had talked to relatives of the kidnappers to convince their kin to give up the priest.
Sinnott was supposed to be freed late Wednesday but the boat bringing him to Zamboanga from the kidnapper’s hideout was delayed by giant waves, Iqbal added.
A senior intelligence official said the kidnappers were also fearful that they might be intercepted by the military and the police on their way to the drop zone.
Army Maj. Carlos Sol, chief secretariat of the government delegation to the joint ceasefire committee, said he personally fetched Sinnott from his MILF counterpart Rashid Ladiasan.
“Fr. Sinnott first asked me where will I take him. I told him I’m with the government and assured him that he is in safe hands,” Sol said.
Sol said the turnover of Sinnott by the MILF panel to its government counterpart in the joint ceasefire committee went smoothly.
He said there had been “extensive consultations” between the government and the MILF’s ceasefire committee as they helped each other search for the Irish priest.
Sol, however, declined to reveal details on how the joint ceasefire committee managed to secure the release of Sinnott.
Sinnott, for his part, claimed his captors made several attempts to release him on Wednesday but this was delayed due to bad weather.
Sinnott said his captors had been waiting since Monday. “The moment when the signal came (from the negotiators), we came out,” he said.
Sinnott said the speedboat left the area Wednesday night and traveled for eight hours before reaching a coastal village in Zamboanga.
Iqbal refused to reveal the exact location where the MILF task force had fetched Sinnott.
Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, on the other hand, urged the MILF to identify Sinnott’s kidnappers.
“The question is who took Fr. Sinnott? It is incumbent upon the negotiators to disclose the group behind it if indeed their members are not responsible,” Teodoro said.
“It doesn’t mean that the kidnappers could go scot-free just because this is a special case. We should not just forget the incident just because Fr. Sinnott is released,” he said.
Teodoro said the kidnappers should be charged even after releasing Sinnott.
Perfect timing
Sinnott finally gained his freedom just hours before US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived for a brief visit to Manila yesterday.
Malacañang, however, was quick to downplay reports that the government was pressured to secure the release of Sinnott by any means in time for Clinton’s visit.
“This (release of Sinnott) was the fruit of negotiations so I think the release was just a coincidence. This (release) was really unexpected,” deputy presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo said, denying allegations of pressure on the government to secure the release of Sinnott as a show for Clinton during her visit.
“There’s always pressure on the government to secure the safe release or rescue any hostage, whether there’s a coming visit or not,” she said.
President Arroyo welcomed Sinnott at the Villamor Air Base, accompanied by Irish Ambassador Richard O’Brian.
Fajardo said the release of Sinnott does not exonerate the MILF from the crime if it will be proven later that the rebel group was behind the snatch.
“The issue of the peace talks (with the MILF) must be kept separate from the kidnapping and the accountability of some MILF members, if they are indeed involved. They cannot escape accountability and definitely there will be some criminal charges (to be) filed,” she said.
Complicating the situation, Fajardo said, is the repeated denial of the MILF of the involvement of some of its members in the kidnapping amid intelligence reports that some of them were involved.
Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesman Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina said the police would coordinate with the officials who played vital roles in securing the release of Sinnott.
Espina said they have already sent invitations to the six MILF leaders that had been identified by intelligence reports to have taken part in the kidnapping of the priest.
Although ransom was not paid for the release of Sinnott, Espina said the PNP would still file charges of kidnapping for ransom since there was a ransom demand.
Dolorfino added the military would allow police operations against the kidnappers. – With Jaime Laude, James Mananghaya, John Unson, Marvin Sy, Paolo Romero, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Mayen Jaymalin, Evelyn Macairan, AP
Puno insists MILF behind kidnapping of Sinnott By Cecille Suerte Felipe (The Philippine Star) Updated November 14, 2009 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines - Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno insisted yesterday that members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) were behind the kidnapping of Irish Columban priest Michael Sinnott in Sulu.
“I stand by everything I have said. Everything I have said has been based on careful investigation. I didn’t speak rashly, I chose my words and I choose them again now; I stand by everything that I had said,” Puno said.
Soon after his release from captivity on Thursday, Sinnott said he was sure the MILF had nothing to do with his abduction.
Puno said that by clearing the MILF, Sinnott might be showing signs of Stockholm syndrome, whereby a hostage or kidnap victim shows affection or sympathy for his or her tormentors.
Puno said his conclusion that the 113th Base Command of the MILF abducted Sinnott in Basilan last Oct. 11 was based on thorough investigation and facts.
“According to Fr. Sinnott he was told by his kidnappers, I’m sure that there was some admonition to him before he was freed,” he added.
Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Director General Jesus Verzosa said he shared Puno’s belief that the MILF was behind the priest’s kidnapping.
Puno, just the same, thanked the MILF Central Committee for effecting the release of Sinnott. “I hope that they will have the same attitude towards other kidnappings where suspected MILF are behind them also,” he said.
Sinnott, 79, was released at dawn Thursday.
The suspects in the kidnapping – all MILF officials – were Salip Aloy Alsree, Latip Jamat, Nasser Macabato, Imam Abubakar, Waning Abdusalam, Saidaman Alik, and several John Does.
Puno said the filing of charges against the suspects must not affect the peace negotiations with the MILF.
“We are engaged in peace negotiation, but it has to be based on the Constitution and the rule of law, we cannot negotiate while the other side is exempted from following the law. I don’t want to interfere in the peace negotiation, I’m also for peace in Mindanao, like everybody,” Puno said.
MILF won’t say more
The MILF, meanwhile, appears reluctant to reveal the whereabouts of the suspected kidnappers of Sinnott or the details of his release from captivity.
The MILF, in its website www.-luwaran.net, has not discussed in detail how its “Task Force Sinnott” was able to secure the release of the Irish priest.
Ghadzali Jaafar, MILF’s vice chairman for political affairs, told Catholic station dxMS in Cotabato City that Sinnott’s kidnappers were forced to release him due to “pressure” from MILF fighters.
“We all know that the kidnappers are armed so we sent a group larger than them to put pressure on them,” Jaafar told dxMS.
“We supported extensively the effort of working out the release of Fr. Sinnott as an obligation and in keeping with our existing security agreements with the Philippine government,” Jaafar said.
Many local officials in Mindanao are convinced the MILF already had Sinnott in its custody for weeks prior to his release last Thursday, or in time for the arrival in the country of US State Secretary Hillary Clinton.
Iqbal and Jaafar denied the insinuations.
“The MILF, under all its security agreements with the government, is supposed to help the Armed Forces and the police run after criminals operating in areas covered by the ceasefire. Isn’t it incumbent upon the MILF to name the kidnappers of Fr. Sinnott and help prosecute them?” asked a Maranaw town mayor in Lanao del Sur.
Despite Sinnott’s release, the military is not withdrawing its division-size unit sent earlier to Lanao to rescue the kidnapped priest.
Maj. Gen. Ben Dolorfino, commander of the Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom), said the forces have remained in the area in Lanao province where the 79-year-old Columban missionary was held for one month. – With John Unson, Roel Pareño