Marawi dean freed by captors

Marawi City – A female dean of the Jiamiatul Al-Islamia Mindanao College here was released by her kidnappers last Monday, after two days in captivity in the hinterlands of Lanao del Sur.

Marawi City Mayor Fahad Pre Salic said the victim, Dr. Lolita Damonsong Rodriguez, dean of the College of Nursing of the Jiamiatul Al-Islamia Mindanao College, was released unharmed and without any ransom.

Salic, who led the negotiations for Rodriguez’s release, said she was freed Monday night in Barangay Pantao-raya in Saguiaran, Lanao del Sur.

Rodriguez was seized at about 4 p.m. last Sunday near the school while she was waiting for a passenger jeepney bound for Iligan City where her family resides.

Rodriguez was reunited with her family led by her husband, Mario Rodriguez, a professor at the Mindanao State University here, following her release.

Besides Salic, the police and the Army’s 103rd Infantry Brigade led by its commanding officer, Col. Rey Ardo, also assisted in Rodriguez’s release.

Authorities did not identify her kidnappers.