Last Sipadan hostage finally free

ZAMBOANGA CITY — Free at last.

After more than three years in captivity, Filipino Roland Ullah regained his freedom yesterday after town officials saw him wandering in Patikul town, Sulu.

Ullah, a cook and dive instructor, was the last of the 21 mostly European hostages snatched by the Abu Sayyaf in Sipadan island resort off Sabah on Easter Sunday, April 23, 2000.

Brig. Gen. Triponio Salazar, Western Mindanao military commander, said Ullah was immediately turned over by Patikul officials to Vice Mayor Suhuri Hayudini.

"He did not escape but he was seen by the town officials that held him immediately," he said.

Salazar said Brig. Gen. Romeo Tolentino, commander of Task Force Comet, the military unit running after the Abu Sayyaf, has secured Ullah and brought him yesterday afternoon to the military headquarters in Jolo, Sulu.

"He is now in the hands of our military forces led by Gen. Tolentino in Sulu," he said.

Earlier, the military said Ullah might have already joined the Abu Sayyaf since the 20 other hostages had all escaped from the bandits, except for him.

Abu Sayyaf bandits led by Ghalib Andang, alias Commander Robot took Ullah and the other 20 captives by boat from Sipadan to Sulu and held them in the jungle for about five months before releasing them in batches, reportedly in exchange for thousands of dollars in ransom.

Taken hostage were nine Malaysians, three Germans, two Frenchmen, two South Africans, two Finns, a Lebanese woman, and two Filipinos.

The bandits also took hostage foreign journalists, including nine Germans and three Frenchmen, and 13 Filipino evangelists led by Wilde Almeda of the Jesus Miracle Crusade.

Tolentino said Ullah would be debriefed by intelligence agents to get information about his "long overdue" captivity.

"Probably he could also shed light on other information surrounding the Sipadan raid," Salazar said. – Roel Pareño, Mike Frialde