Basilan college executive released

ZAMBOANGA CITY , Philippines  – A senior official of a state-run college in Basilan was released by the Abu Sayyaf just hours before Christmas, local officials said yesterday.

Basilan Vice Gov. Al-Rasheed Sakalahul, chairman of the crisis management committee, announced the release of Orlando Fajardo, vice president for academic affairs of the Basilan State College.

“It’s a good Christmas present, we now have with us Dr. Fajardo,” said Sakalahul, who met the school official after his release.

Sakalahul said Fajardo was released by his captors at around 9:30 p.m. Thursday at the boundary of Tipo-Tipo and Tuburan towns.

“No ransom was paid. It was because of the pressure exerted by the military and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) who helped government troops,” said Sakalahul, who heads the crisis management committee.

Rear Admiral Alexander Pama, chief of the Naval Forces of Western Mindanao and Task Force Trillium, identified the kidnappers of Fajardo as under the group of Abu Sayyaf leader Nurhassan Jamiri.

Basilan Gov. Jum Akbar said the intensified pursuit and pressure applied by the CMC headed by Sakalahul worked to secure the release of Fajardo.

“Our position remains that we have to work for the release of the hostages without any ransom payment,” Akbar said.

Sakalahul, however, admitted to have chipped in P100,000 as payment for the expenses of the kidnappers for the medicine and food of the school official held captive for 14 days.

“The MILF, under commander Al Basalun, also worked for the release of Dr. Fajardo,” Sakalahul added.

The kidnappers initially demanded a P20-million ransom and imposed a deadline for the payment last week.

The demand, however, was subsequently lifted following the series of negotiations initiated by the CMC to convince the kidnappers to release their captive.

Sakahalul said they managed to convince the kidnappers to reduce the P20-million ransom demand to P4 million.

Eventually, the captors agreed to free Fajardo without any ransom due to the “pressure” both by the military and the MILF forces.

Fajardo described as “very overwhelming” the P20-million ransom that the kidnappers initially demanded.

“I even thought that I’d rather die than pay the ransom because it’s impossible for me to raise that amount,” Fajardo said.

Fajardo was kidnapped last Dec. 10 by unidentified gunmen whom authorities later tagged as members of the Abu Sayyaf.

The release of Fajardo has brought down to three the number of hostages still held by the kidnappers in the mountains of Basilan.

The other hostages were identified as Donald John Capili and Chinese nationals Bo Shung Tan alias Michael Tan and Zi Shun Lu alias Oscar Lu.

Capili was kidnapped last October in Liloy town while Tan and Lu were kidnapped last Nov. 10 in Maluso town along with a Filipino companion, Mark Singson, who was subsequently beheaded.

The CMC and government forces are exhausting all measures to secure the release of the three other hostages.

Victim’s ordeal

Fajardo was tearfully reunited with his wife Lilia Thursday night after he was recovered and presented to Akbar at the provincial capitol.

Fajardo said during the first few days after he was kidnapped, his captors threatened to execute him if he could not establish contact with his wife who would negotiate with them.

But Fajardo said he was treated nicely later on.

“I was put in a place that was relatively nice for a captive. I was even given the privilege of watching movies in the house,” he said.

He shared that there was also a time that he thought of escaping from his kidnappers.

“If an opportunity arose, I was ready to get out from their place but thank God everything ended in a much better way,” Fajardo said.

He said they constantly moved from one place to another to avoid pursuing government troops.

Malacañang welcomed the release of Fajardo as a good Christmas gift for his family and loved ones.

Secretary to the Cabinet Silvestre Bello III commended local officials and authorities for the way they handled the situation, which resulted in the safe release of Fajardo. - With Marvin Sy