Catholic priest rescued after four months
MANILA: A Catholic priest kidnapped by Islamic State supporters when they occupied parts of a southern Philippine city nearly four months ago smiled and called for prayers yesterday after being rescued.
Father Teresito Suganob appeared at a press conference at the military headquarters in Manila after he was rescued late on Saturday, when the military said it overran the militants’ control centre at a mosque in Marawi city on Mindanao island.
“Thank you and I pray for you, God bless you all. Pray for me, for my recovery,” said Suganob.
Hundreds of gunmen rampaged through Marawi, the main Muslim city in the mostly Catholic Philippines, on May 23 and then occupied key districts in what authorities said was an attempt to establish a Southeast Asian base for IS in the Philippines.
Suganob was taken hostage along with 13 parishioners from a Marawi cathedral on the first day of the fighting.
A video released by his captors in late May showed Suganob standing in the rubble of buildings in Marawi asking President Rodrigo Duterte to withdraw troops and stop the military offensive.
Suganob said at the time that the gunmen were holding 240 “prisoners of war”.
One escaped hostage later told authorities that Suganob had been forced to serve as a cook for the militants, according to the thenmilitary spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Jo-ar Herrera. AFP