MANILA, Philippines - After surviving mainly on cassava root crop during their six months in captivity by Abu Sayyaf bandits, German couple Stefan Viktor Okonek and Henrike Dielen were served hot tea, German chocolate and ensaymada last Friday by the military while awaiting their flight to Manila.
The 74-year-old Okonek and 55-year-old Dielen also had showers and were given blankets and warm meals at the Western Mindanao Command (Westcom) headquarters in Zamboanga City.
“Their clothes were provided by Joint Task Group Sulu (JTGS). Upon their arrival (in Zamboanga), they were served food, provided with blankets and hot tea. They also took their showers,” Wescom commander, Lt. Gen. Rustico Guerrero, said.
Okonek was given intravenous feeding as their ordeal had greatly weakened him.
The couple, accompanied by German embassy representatives, flew to Manila from Edwin Andrews Air Base in Zamboanga City early yesterday morning on a chartered plane.
On arriving in Manila, Okonek and Dielan were immediately taken into custody by the German embassy.
Sources said troops deployed to rescue the hostages first spotted their targets in Barangay Sanggay in Patikul, Sulu.
Sensing the presence of the troops, the bandits moved their two captives to nearby Sitio Kan Undal, Barangay Darayan. Soldiers stationed in Barangays Danag and Bungkaong also in Patikul were able to monitor the movements of the bandits and their captives.
“The Abu Sayyaf guarding the two hostages were already on our gun sights but we could not just move in because they were using the two kidnapped victims as human shields,” a source said.
“They later transferred to another area and from there, we don’t know happened next,” he added.
The bandits had threatened to behead Okonek at 3 p.m. last Friday if the P250-million ransom was not paid. The deadline was extended for two hours. The bandits freed the couple even if their other demand – Germany’s withdrawal from a US-led coalition conducting air strikes on ISIS positions in Iraq and Syria – had not been met. ISIS stands for Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.
At about 8:50 p.m. Friday, the German couple showed up at a police checkpoint in Patikul and were immediately transported to the headquarters of the 2nd Marine Brigade in Barangay Busbos in Jolo.
They were given medical care at the camp before being taken to Zamboanga City on a Philippine Navy gunboat Friday night.
AFP chief Gen. Gregorio Pio Catapang later confirmed the release of the German couple.
A source said the German couple were only fed twice a day by their captors, as they were constantly on the move because of the military and police dragnet operation.
“Seldom they ate rice because their captors were highly mobile,” said the source.
Amid reports that P250 million in ransom money had changed hands for the release of the two German kidnapped victims, the military insisted it had never negotiated with the terrorists.
Maj. Gen. Domingo Tutaan, AFP spokesman, said that to his knowledge the terrorists were forced to set Okonek and Dielen free because of pressure from pursuing soldiers.
At least two military brigades – one each from the Marines and the Army – were deployed to rescue the hostages and neutralize their Abu Sayyaf captors.
“We don’t negotiate with terrorists,” Tutaan said, adding that the military is also conducting its own probe to validate reports that a P250-million ransom was paid to the bandits.
Following the release of the German couple, Catapang ordered a full-scale “law enforcement operation” against the terror group, which is still holding at least 10 other local and foreign hostages in Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.