No ransom paid for Fr. Mick’s release--MILF

PAGADIAN CITY--The Irish Columban missionary Fr. Michael “Mick” Sinnott was freed at the instance of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

This was the statement of MILF Vice Chairman for Political Affairs Ghazali Jaafar to CBCPNews, early Thursday morning.

“Mga pasado alas kuwatro ng umaga na-release si Fr. Sinnott safely sa MILF GRP Committee on Cessation of Hostilities patungo sa GRP Peace Panel sa Zamboanga City,” he said from his camp.

Jaafar said it was the MILF Ceasefire Committee and its own Task Force Sinnott which “pressured” the armed group holding the foreign missionary.

“I have no details yet as to who may have kidnapped Fr. Sinnott because all I got was a report from our men in the field,” the MILF official added.


He said the MILF Central Committee will decide what to do with Fr. Sinnott’s kidnappers once their identities are known.

“It’s not for me to decide,” Jaafar was quoted as saying.
He categorically said there was no ransom paid for Fr. Sinnott’s release.
“The kidnappers were forced to turn-over Fr. Sinnott to our task force because of the ‘pressure’ we applied,” he further said.

He said initial reports disclosed some individual members of the Abu Sayyaf, the militant group with links to the Al-Qaeda as the ones responsible for the kidnapping.
“You see, it would be hard to believe reports because kidnappers happen to be one of the best liars,” Mr. Jaafar explained.
He also downplayed claims made by Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno who said the MILF was responsible for the kidnapping.
“It has always been against the policy of our mass-based organization to do criminal acts like kidnapping,” Mr. Jaafar said. He said they would not get anything out of it.
He added they have a standing order to all their members not to do anything contrary to law because “the MILF and the GRP are partners in peace-building.”

Jaafar said it was coincidental the release took place on the day of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s visit to Manila.

“It was purely coincidental that the release took place today,” Jaafar further said.
He added “had it not been for Secretary Puno’s accusations, we would have had the release earlier,” he said.

Fr. Sinnott is now in the Western Mindanao Command headquarters in Zamboanga City en route to Manila for presentation to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Government peace panel chair Rafael Seguis, in a statement e-mailed to reporters at 5:46 a.m. said he was “very happy to inform everyone that after thirty-one days of captivity, Fr. Michael Sinnott has finally been released.

He is a bit exhausted at this time, but otherwise, he is in good physical and emotional health. More importantly, he is with us once more.”


Seguis said that Fr. Sinnott was “turned over to the GRP-MILF (Government of the Republic of the Philippines-Moro Islamic Liberation Front) Joint Ceasefire Committee by elements of the MILF unit which was ordered earlier by its leadership to help in the release effort.”

The MILF had earlier set up a Task Force Sinnott to help rescue the priest.

“Today marks the culmination of the hard work put in by the members of our Ceasefire Committees who, in coordination with the Crisis Management Committee and the MILF leadership, have demonstrated tremendous teamwork to ensure the success of this undertaking,” Seguis said.

He commended “for a job well done,” GRP-CCCH chair Maj. Gen. Reynaldo Sealana; his counterpart, MILF-CCCH Chairman Toks Ebrahim; the CCCH Secretariat Heads Major Carlos Sol and Rashid Ladiasan; and the other members of their team.|

“I also wish to thank and congratulate our counterparts in the MILF Peace Panel, especially Panel Chairman Mohagher Iqbal, for working and cooperating with us through the peace process mechanism,” Seguis said, adding Fr. Sinnott’s release is “indeed, a triumph for all of us who have worked tirelessly and prayed unceasingly so that he may once again regain his freedom.”


Iqbal, said members of the MILF’s Task Force Sinnot “have just turned over to the MILF Coordinating Committee on Cessation of Hostilities (CCCH) Irish priest Michael Sinnott. Immediately after the MILF ceasefire team took hold of the priest, they turned him over to the government ceasefire committee, which communicated right away to higher level of government about the safe recovery of the priest.”


Major Carlos Sol Jr., chair of the Secretariat of the GRP CCCH and his staff, received the priest on behalf of the government. Sol brought the priest to Brig. Gen. Reynaldo Sealana, GRP CCCH chairman, who had just arrived from Manila late Wednesday afternoon.

The turnover took place in one of the coastal villages of Zamboanga City. Iqbal said this was in Sangali, Zamboanga City.


Iqbal’s statement quoted Maj. Gen. Benjamin “Mohammad” Dolorfino, chief of Westmincom, as saying Sinnot was kidnapped “by a notorious pirate, Commander Inggo. The priest was allegedly turned over to an MILF sub-commander in Sultan Naga Dimaporo town in Lanao del Norte.”


“The MILF vehemently denied any part in the kidnapping, an act it consistently condemned. Commander Aloy Al-Asree, who was tagged by the military and DILG Secretary Ronaldo Puno as behind the abduction, denied any involvement; in fact, he was involved in the MILF Task Force Sinnott for the rescue of the priest,” he said.