Canadian rescued from kidnap gang

DAVAO CITY — A Canadian man seized by Muslim gunmen last month was rescued yesterday by government troops in Davao del Norte after a firefight that left at least two kidnappers dead, officials said.

Pierre Belanger, 50, was seized Nov. 3, although the authorities previously dismissed the incident as a missing person’s case.

Belanger was roused from sleep at 12:30 a.m. when policemen and Army troops stormed a nipa hut in a remote barangay in Panabo City where he was being held captive.

Troops and policemen tracked down Belanger to the Pentagon gang’s hideout in Sitio Moros in Barangay Buenavista almost two months after he was snatched while at a beach party in Sitio Liling, Barangay Balutakay.

Although Sitio Moros is inaccessible by car or jeep, troops whisked the rescued man to the Davao International Airport where Presidential Assistant for Mindanao Jesus Dureza and Canadian Ambassador Robert Collette were waiting.

At 11 a.m. yesterday, Dureza handed over Belanger to Collette, who immediately flew with him to Metro Manila aboard a United States Embassy jet for a meeting with President Arroyo at Malacañang, and later with Dr. Rey Pagtakhan, the visiting Canadian Secretary of State for Asia Pacific.

Accompanied by his Filipina wife Niceta, Belanger told The STAR yesterday he has not yet decided whether to remain in the country or return to Ottawa.

"I might stay here but probably I would no longer be staying in Barangay Balutakay, where there is no electricity and life is hard," he said.

He described his ordeal as a "traumatic experience."

For the past 10 years, Belanger has been living in Barangay Balutakay in Hagonoy town, Davao del Sur with his wife and three children – until he was taken at gunpoint while enjoying himself in a beach in Sitio Liling,

Sporting a beard and wearing a red shirt and denims, Belanger told reporters at the airport yesterday his kidnappers treated and fed him well, but that he didn’t like being locked up.

"I am healthy (and) the treatment was okay," he said. "But I just did not like the idea of being like incarcerated for seven weeks," he said.

Belanger said he was not physically abused and received a diet of fish and chicken throughout his captivity in a hut with bamboo flooring, that was always guarded by three men.

"I hope they won’t repeat the kidnapping" he said. "The whole thing was really terrible."

Why was I kidnapped?

In an audience with Mrs. Arroyo at Malacañang yesterday, Belanger expressed puzzlement why he was chosen by the kidnappers. "I’m retired. I have no business. I’m not rich. Why I was kidnapped, I have no idea," he said.

Mrs. Arroyo, for her part, congratulated the lawmen and was optimistic the kidnap-for-ransom gang would be neutralized soon.

"Well I’m very happy and I would like to congratulate the composite task force who worked with the Canadian authorities to effect the release," she said, adding that the killing of two of the abductors was a sign the Pentagon gang was close to being neutralized.

Zamboanga Peninsula police commander Senior Superintendent Bartolome Baluyot told reporters that two kidnappers – Boy Saligan and Edong Responde – were killed when policemen and Army troops stormed their hideout to rescue Belanger.

"Belanger is fine, but he looks so haggard and has bruises on his body," he said.

Baluyot said most of the kidnappers were able to escape the police assault under cover of darkness yesterday, leaving behind several assault rifles and submachineguns.

"There is an ongoing pursuit operation," he said. "President Arroyo’s specific order is to destroy and wipe out the Pentagon gang. "We had been building this case for a long time and and we had coordinated with the intelligence community."

Intelligence led police to the hideout of the Pentagon gang, which had kidnapped four Chinese last June and August, and killed the two later while trying to escape, he added.

Lt. Gen. Roy Cimatu, Armed Forces Southern Command chief, told reporters that Belanger was rescued by policemen from the National Anti-Kidnap for Ransom Task Force-Mindanao Area Office and Zamboanga Peninsula police, along with troops from the Army’s 701st Infantry Brigade.

"Fighting erupted for five minutes where the government troops rescued Belanger safely while killing two of the suspects," he said.

Collete thanked the government for safely rescuing Belanger.

"All Canadians rejoiced this morning," he said. "For Pierre of course, freedom is back to him and I am sure he is very happy, delighted, overjoyed as I am on behalf of all Canadians. This is an early Christmas gift to the family concerned and to the country as well."–With reports Roel Pareño, Paolo Romero