MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang rejected yesterday the $2-million ransom demand by the kidnappers of Irish priest Michael Sinnott but stressed efforts were being exerted to ensure his safe release.
Press Secretary and presidential spokesman Cerge Remonde said paying money to free Sinnott would go against the no-ransom policy of the government.
“We will do everything to ensure his safe release,” Remonde said. “We will, however, stick to the international policy of paying no ransom.”
Remonde said security forces were continuing efforts to locate the 79-year-old priest who was seized by gunmen from his missionary office in Pagadian City on Oct. 11.
He said the military and the police are coordinating their efforts with the local government of Zamboanga del Sur negotiating the release of Sinnott.
Remonde said even the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which is negotiating a peace deal with the government, is helping to locate Sinnott.
The military said Sinnott and his kidnappers had holed out in the jungle area sprawling the boundaries of the Lanao provinces in Central Mindanao.
Sinnott’s kidnappers have released a video of the priest, showing him holding an Oct. 22 issue of a newspaper in the first proof of life obtained by the media.
“My kidnappers are led by commander Abu Jayad. They are asking two million US dollars as ransom money,” the priest said while standing in front of what appeared to be a bed sheet or tablecloth in a forested area.
“We are living in the open, in difficult circumstances. I am still in good health even if I do not have the full medicines,” Sinnott supposedly said in the video.
Remonde, on the other hand, appealed to the media “not to give propaganda mileage to the terrorists holding Fr. Sinnott hostage for the good of the kidnapped priest and in order not to encourage similar barbaric acts.”
“We humbly appeal to our highly respected media professionals to adhere to established canons of journalism and media code of conduct in kidnap cases,” he said.
Remonde gave assurance the government would exert all efforts in accordance with international standards to secure the safe release of Sinnott without paying any ransom.
News of the video, obtained by journalists Saturday, was received with relief by Sinnott’s family and colleagues amid worries over his weak heart.
Fr. Patrick O’Donoghue, the head of the Missionary Society of Saint Columban, who saw photographs taken from the video, confirmed that it was Sinnott and expressed relief that he was looking relatively healthy.
“The past week has been very wet here in Mindanao and living in the conditions that he described can only have had an adverse effect on (Sinnott’s) fragile health,” O’Donoghue said.
However, he stressed that no money would be paid to secure Sinnott’s freedom.
O’Donoghue said the policy of the congregation is that ransom “should not be paid.”
O’Donoghue appealed to those “who may have ways of influencing those who are still holding Fr. Mick (Sinnott) to continue their efforts to enable the abductors to see that the best and simplest way forward is for them to now release Fr. Sinnott without further delay.”
The Irish government also released a statement yesterday saying: “The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Michael Martin... spoke to the Sinnott family early this morning and they were very relieved to hear that there is further evidence that Father Sinnott is alive.
“Minister Martin also spoke to our Ambassador Richard O’Brien who has over the past three weeks been working closely with the government of the Philippines on behalf of the Irish government and has had meetings with representatives of the MILF and other agencies working in the area.
“Minister Martin said that no effort will be spared to secure the safe release of Fr. Sinnott as soon as possible.”
The Zamboanga provincial crisis management committee (CMC) negotiating the release of Sinnott said they are waiting for instructions from Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno on how to resolve the hostage crisis.
CMC spokesman Allan Jun Molde said Puno would attend the meeting to provide inputs and relay the message from President Arroyo for the rescue of Sinnott.
Molde said the CMC was glad to see Sinnott is still alive as shown in the video.
“Our worries lessened. In fairness, he looks fine physically. So there’s a possibility that the medicines he badly needed finally reached him,” Molde said.
Gerry Kelly, a junior minister with the Sinn Fein republican party in Northern Ireland, said his sources in the Philippines suggested Sinnott had received the treatment he needed for his heart problems.
Kelly said he had been in touch with contacts in the MILF, which has offered to help in the search for the priest.
There have been conflicting reports about who is holding Sinnott, with the military initially saying he was kidnapped by a Muslim pirate active in the area.
Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro maintained Sinnott is being held by rogue elements of the MILF, a charge denied by the group.
The MILF meanwhile said it did not have an Abu Jayad among its ranks, but that it remains willing to deploy an armed unit for a joint rescue effort with government troops. – With Helen Flores