ZAMBOANGA CITY—Kidnapped Irish priest Fr. Michael Sinnott may be injured and has been turned over to a commander of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Lanao del Norte by his captors, officials said Wednesday.
The government asked the MILF on Wednesday to help secure the freedom of the ailing Irish priest.
The 11,000-strong MILF pledged to work for the release of Sinnott, said rebel leader Mohagher Iqbal. It was a rare alliance between the rebels and the government, who clashed just months ago in violence that killed hundreds.
Chief Supt. Angelo Sunglao, Western Mindanao police chief, said Sinnott, 79, accompanied by his captors, arrived in Barangay Payong in Sultan Naga Dimaporo town early on Monday and was handed over to Latip Jamat, the leader of the 4th Brigade under the MILF’s 113th Base Command.
Sunglao said the priest was then moved to the MILF’s Camp Wilcom at the boundaries of Sultan Naga Dimaporo, Nunungan and Picong towns.
He said Pagadian Bishop Emmanuel Cabajar, whom the Provincial Crisis Management Committee had appointed as negotiator, was awaiting word from the kidnappers.
Maj. Gen. Ben Dolorfino, chief of the Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom), confirmed Sunglao’s disclosure and added that Sinnott was seen with “blood on his head.”
“Probably he was hit on the head but he is alive, [according to] the information,” Dolorfino said.
But MILF civil-military affairs chief Eid Kabalu described Sunglao’s claim as “speculative and baseless” and “a figment of the imagination of police authorities.”
“It has always been that way in the past: When there’s a sensational case of kidnapping, the military and the police always link the abductors to us,” Kabalu told the Inquirer.
Insider’s info
Dolorfino said that based on military information, Sinnott and his kidnappers arrived in Payong at around 7 a.m. on Monday, or about 12 hours after the priest was forcibly taken from the Columban Society compound in Gatas, Pagadian City.
At around 11 a.m. on the same day, the group was seen moving toward Barangay Bauyan in a motorboat with blue and white stripes, Dolorfino said.
Late in the afternoon on Tuesday, Sinnott and his captors were again sighted moving toward the “tri-boundary” areas of Nunungan, Picong and Sultan Naga Dimaporo.
“The reports are that he’s still in the area,” Dolorfino said.
Asked how the military got the information, he said: “Let just say it’s insider’s [info].”
Dolorfino also told reporters at Camp Aguinaldo as much in a phone interview.
“The latest information we received is that they are still there up to now,” he said.
But Allan Molde, the spokesperson of Task Force Sinnott led by Zamboanga del Sur Gov. Aurora Cerilles, was surprised to hear of the categorical claim on Sinnott’s whereabouts.
Earlier, Molde told the Inquirer that the sea patrols constantly scouring the coasts of Zamboanga del Sur and Lanao del Norte had yielded negative results.
Kabalu said it was true Jamat was an MILF member in charge of a brigade of the separatists’ 113th Base Command led by Commander Aloy Al Ashree.
He said MILF chair Murad Ebrahim had directed Ashree to verify Sunglao’s claims but that there had been no word as of Wednesday afternoon.
Under the cessation of hostilities agreement between the government and the MILF, the latter is to help in rescue operations if a kidnap victim happens to be in MILF areas.
Kabalu said some people whom he did not name could only be implicating Jamat.
‘Usual irritants’
“It’s the second time that [these people] accused Jamat and his forces. The first was when [kidnapped Italian priest Fr. Giancarlo] Bossi was allegedly brought to his place, which turned out to be false. I am wondering what agenda these people are again trying to cook,” Kabalu said.
He also questioned the military’s detailed information: “If it is true, then why are they not moving in yet?”
Abdullah Dalidig, chair of the nongovernment Muslim Multisectoral Movement for Peace and Development, warned the military and police against rushing to judgment.
“Misplaced law enforcement aggressiveness may unduly create frictions with MILF ground forces,” Dalidig said.
He said instances like this were the usual “irritants” that could lead to armed clashes between government and separatist troops.
Dolorfino said the military “immediately deployed” troops upon receiving word on Sinnott’s location.
Containment operation
Dolorfino said soldiers were now stationed some five kilometers from the MILF’s Camp Wilcom: “[They have been] advised to conduct a containment operation. We are not going to fire; we are just going to secure the roads and highways.”
Dolorfino said the military wanted the government and MILF ceasefire committees to sort things out and rescue the priest.
“Since it’s now in the area of the MILF, we believe that the matter can be better solved by the [separatists] themselves. And we expect their full cooperation on this,” he said.
Armed Forces Chief of Staff Gen. Victor Ibrado has also directed government troops to give the MILF a chance to help in Sinnott’s rescue.
The AFP, as directed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, declared a ceasefire with the MILF in July to pave the way for the resumption of peace negotiations.
The talks collapsed in August 2008 after the government backed out of an agreement expanding the Bangsamoro homeland, leading to renewed hostilities in central Mindanao.
Van and motorboat
Dolorfino and Sunglao said the leads that they had followed included the ownership of the van used in Sinnott’s abduction. The van, which was later torched by the kidnappers, was found near Pagadian.
“The vehicle was traced to a Basilan police officer. But it might have been [stolen] so it’s not fair to identify him,” Dolorfino said.
He said the getaway motorboat, which had also been recovered by authorities, was owned by Guingona Samal alias Inggo, a known pirate operating in the waters of Pagadian and Baganian Peninsula in Zamboanga del Sur.
“We expect that the kidnappers will communicate, maybe after they have settled down. Right now, no communication from their end has been received by authorities or the priest’s superior,” Dolorfino said.
‘Dangerous action’
On the phone with reporters in Camp Aguinaldo, Dolorfino said two Army brigades composed of some 3,000 troops had been mobilized to surround the areas where Sinnott was spotted to prevent the kidnappers from moving him to Basilan or Sulu—“a dangerous course of action,” according to the Wesmincom chief.
“[But] what complicates the matter is that these areas have a heavy presence of the MILF,” Dolorfino said, adding that the military was now transmitting vital information, including the chronology of the kidnapping, to the MILF through the committee on the cessation of hostilities.
“We believe that this can be best handled under the ambit of the agreement on the general cessation of hostilities,” he said.
Asked about the possible involvement of the MILF in Sinnott’s abduction, Dolorfino said: “We cannot discount the possibility because all organizations have bad eggs. Even the AFP has bad eggs.”
‘Some renegade members’
He said he believed that the MILF as an organization was not involved in the kidnapping, and that it was possible “some renegade members took Father Sinnott.”
In Ireland, Foreign Affairs spokesperson and Labor Party President Michael D. Higgins issued an emotional appeal for Sinnott’s release and asked the abductors to provide the priest, who recently underwent heart surgery, with medicine.
“Anything visited upon him is visited upon everyone in Ireland. For this reason, our Parliament wants to send a message: that we want him released and to have immediate access to the medical support that he requires,” Higgins said in a statement.
Fr. Angel Calvo, a member of the Claretian Missionary Fathers and the president of Peace Advocates Zamboanga, called on civilian, police and military authorities to exert all efforts for Sinnott’s safe release.
“We also propose that an appropriate reward be given to any person who will help bring about his safe liberty,” Calvo said.
He said if it was true that Sinnott was with the MILF, “the proper way is to refer the case to the coordinating committee on the cessation of hostilities.” With reports from Ryan D. Rosauro, Inquirer Mindanao; Jocelyn R. Uy in Manila, Associated Press
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