A tale of faith, hope and courage

As the fate of filipino hostage in Iraq Roberto Tarongoy hangs in the balance, Starweek shares this exclusive account of the hostage experience of Angelito Nayan, who was held by Afghan militants for 27 days last year. His strong faith and the prayers of thousands saw Nayan through his ordeal. It is fervently hoped that Tarongoy’s story will have a similar happy ending.

"For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, not for woe! plans to give you a future full of hope." – Jeremiah 29:11

The biblical passage quoted in a magazine caught the eye of Angelito Nayan, a devout Catholic, about ten years ago. Little did he realize that it would serve as a source of hope and strength during his darkest days as a hostage of Afghan terrorists many years later.

The 34-year-old Nayan, a mild-mannered junior career diplomat who topped the foreign service examinations in 2002, sits behind his desk at the Department of Foreign Affairs’ Office of American Affairs in Manila, seemingly calm and unscathed from his recent ordeal. He was one of three radio-carrying but otherwise unarmed United Nations workers kidnapped in Kabul by Afghans Nayan believe were "common criminals who became politicized after they met with elements of the al-Qaeda group", identified as belonging to a less radical splinter al-Qaeda group called Jaishul Musli-meen or Army of Muslims.

The bespectacled Nayan, who made international headlines along with female hostages Annetta Flanigan of Northern Ireland and Shqipe Habibi of Kosovo, ended his 27-day nightmare and embraced freedom last November 23. He survived with his senses acutely intact. However, as a victim of trauma, he is still undergoing specialized treatment called craniosacrotherapy "to release the remaining residual negative energies".

Nayan’s harrowing experience began in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan in central Asia, on October 28. The three colleagues and good friends were on their way to a late lunch at a nearby hotel when an SUV suddenly cut into the path of their marked UN vehicle.

Four or five men in military uniforms, looking like soldiers from the Afghan National Army, jumped out and poked their Russian-made machine guns at the frightened trio. One of the men punched and knocked out the driver. The others dragged Nayan and his two companions, whose mission was to train workers and monitor the first national elections in Afghanistan in 20 years, blindfolded and pushed them into the rear of the SUV.

Says Nayan, "Prayer became our reflex action." Flanigan is an Anglican while Habibi is a Muslim.

Nayan describes life in captivity: "We lived in fear, not knowing if we would live or die each day. Deadline after deadline passed. We were praying all the time. I was praying morning, noon and night."

The hostages were first brought to a two-story house in a huge compound with high walls. "We were humped in a corner, not free to roam anywhere. We had to be accompanied to the restroom. Sometimes they would get angry upon hearing such a request. The restroom required a two-minute walk. The weather was very cold. It dipped to as low as three degrees. We heard the weather report on the local radio."

The hostages were allowed to listen to Afghan radio only. Habibi, a teacher, could make out some of the words. Hearing their names on the air was often good enough to reassure them that they had not been forgotten. But sometimes there were news blackouts.

The masked gunmen soon revealed their faces. On the third day, when a video of the hostages was shot for international release, Nayan asked if they would be killed. They replied in the negative and spat on their Kalashnikovs.

"By then, we had come to accept our fate, that the risk was part of the mission for peace," says Nayan.

Nayan considers himself and his two companions very lucky. "We were never tortured," he reveals. Once, one of the men even performed an Afghan dance, twirling and clapping to cheer them up when he noticed how depressed they were.

Nayan was glad that they were never separated although there was talk of selling them separately. They learned that the kidnappers, who were openly after dollars, were demanding the release of 26 Taliban prisoners in exchange.

The women were not molested, although "they were touched sometimes." Did the female captives get hysterical? "Let’s not talk about that," he answers.

To keep their sanity, Nayan recalls, "We were singing songs from Cats and Phantom of the Opera. The 70s’ and 80s’ classics by John Denver and Jim Croce were also what we took turns singing. We told stories. We played cards. We tried to be creative, playing charades with movie titles."

The captives exercised in the morning and randomly throughout the day. Habibi led karate sessions. "We included two of our captors during our karate practice, teaching them the rudiments of the craft," shares Nayan. "We figured that whatever friendliness we fostered would benefit us in the long run."

One day their captors asked what they wanted from the bazaar. "We asked for English composition books, white underwear, new socks…"

With hindsight, he says: "During the period we were held, I changed just once. I took a bath twice in 26 days. It was a good, warm bath each time. I first brushed my teeth on the eighth day. But you know, you don’t think of these things anymore. You just think of survival."

On the third day in captivity, the biblical passage from Jeremiah hit him. Flanigan had asked him: "Do you think there’s heaven, Lito?" He assured her: "Yes, you have to believe there’s heaven. And we’re going to live." The fear of getting killed and then dumped in a ditch haunted him.

But the words from Jeremiah were sharp and clear. He prayed to the Holy Spirit to enlighten the hearts and minds of the men holding them hostage. He prayed for them to be filled with compassion and kindness.

"In a strange way, it worked," says Nayan. "Of course, by then the world was praying for us. My family, my friends, my neighbors in Las Piñas were all praying for me. Even President Arroyo attributed our release to a miraculous intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico, where she had prayed for us."

Of what he saw of Afghanistan during his time there, Nayan concludes: "Despite the ruins, it is a beautiful country. We were made to walk three to four hours. The countryside we saw was just beautiful. The rustic landscape was like biblical. Of course, we saw the sceneries only at night."

During one trek, the group hiked through "barren land with thorny bushes sprouting here and there". While avoiding populated places, they walked in "a valley of stones and pebbles" before getting to a wooded area. This was where they got chased by wild dogs.

"We had strayed into private property," says Nayan. "And dogs, lots of dogs, chased us in the night. We, including our abductors, just ran and ran as fast as we could."

Although Nayan had his down jacket, they had to keep warm by eating what was fed them. Nobodyhad a clue how long the captivity would last. They later learned that their abductors were planning to hold them for two to three years.

"For several days in the beginning," says Nayan, "it was just cookies and tea. Eventually the food improved to include even beef and chicken. The food was a bit South Asian–Indian with nan bread. The food was quite oily; even the rice was oily. We had mutton and beef. We had meatballs but no pork. We ate a lot of chicken. The Afghans had a special way of preparing cauliflower with a lot of tomatoes. This was one of my favorite dishes. They served parsley, red turnips and spring onions. We ate everything. We couldn’t be choosy or picky."

If food was not a problem, water was. At first Nayan could not drink the water from the well. "The water was very muddy," he recalls. "Our captors were drinking it. Eventually we had to take the risk. Because they later had the budget, they bought us Nestlé bottled water."

All three got sick while in captivity. "I suffered from urinary problem," Nayan shares. "I also developed palpitations due to the food. I am now suffering from high blood pressure because of the diet they fed us. My sinus problem came up as it was very dusty. My nose was bleeding. I also had nausea."

The kidnappers tried to buy the necessary medicine. Nayan got Lomotil for his diarrhea, and something for his headache.

When the time of release came, Nayan did not believe his captors, having been told since the first week that he would walk freely the next day. But freedom did come for them.

"We were all praises to God," says Nayan. "My colleagues and I held hands and prayed, but not openly for fear that they might change their minds about letting us go. We closed our eyes and thanked God, asking God’s angels to accompany us."

Nayan recalls: "When the whole ordeal began, I was preparing to leave in less than two weeks. I was just finishing my assignment. We were already counting the votes. I was supervising three provinces in a mega-counting center outside Kabul three weeks after the actual conduct of the election."

A friend was getting married on November 21 and Nayan had agreed to be in Manila for five days before flying out to California to be with relatives and then on to Oregon and Texas for reunions with friends.

"Yes, I knew this could happen but it was not in the back of my mind when it happened," he says. "People usually have such high respect for the United Nations. Besides, the Muslim country was observing the holy month of Ramadan. Such abduction was unthinkable at this time."

Nayan thought of Angelo de la Cruz, the Filipino truck driver who got released after the Philippine government ordered an earlier-than-scheduled pull out of troops from the war-torn country. Roberto Tarongoy, another Filipino hostage and an accountant, remains in captivity in Iraq. His abductors have been threatening to behead him.

Back in 1997, as a student at the International University of Japan, Nayan met Mark de Borja, a Filipino diplomat posted in Tokyo. Nayan wanted to apply for a clerical position at the Philippine Embassy, but de Borja urged him to take the foreign service examination instead. Five years and a master’s degree in international relations from the Sophia University in Tokyo later, he did–topping the exams.

Nayan worked for current Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo when the latter was senate majority floor leader. This job, he says, taught him "a lot about the workings of the bureaucracy".

Nayan also worked for the Philippine Business for Social Progress (pbsp). One of the highlights of this stint was his implementation of the Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum, which took him to Cotabato and Sulu. He introduced British multinationals to young Muslim professionals and pushed for internship programs. He went on leave from the pbsp to work in Kosovo for almost seven months, working for the central civil registry in Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, helping arrange the repatriation of refugees from all over Europe.

"The UNDP in New York heard about my performance in Kosovo and appointed me to join a team in Kabul during the elections," Nayan explains. "Of the 24 hired from 22 countries, I was the only Filipino and one of three Asians."

Nayan knew that Kabul was a dangerous assignment. He had a six-month contract but finished it in five and a half months. He was already winding up his affairs when the unthinkable happened.

Despite that, Nayan says, "I would not mind being assigned to Kabul again and I would not mind joining a team to set up a Philippine mission in Afghanistan in the future." To his knowledge, there are some 300 Filipinos working as development professionals, contract workers, engineers and members of the food and beverage service sector in Afghanistan.

Perhaps he will meet his captors again. "I am praying for them every night," he confesses. One of them offered to dance at his wedding for US$20. The fellow asked when Nayan plans to settle down. "In two years," he had answered.