Freed Sinnott meets Arroyo at Villamor Air Base
SOPHIA DEDACE, GMANews.TV
11/12/2009 | 10:57 AM
Hours after he walked free from his captors, Irish priest Fr. Michael Sinnott was welcomed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Thursday morning at the Villamor Air Base in Parañaque City.
Irish Ambassador Richard O’Brian also welcomed the priest, who was held captive for more than a month.
Sinnott was accompanied by Western Mindanao Command head Major General Benjamin Dolorfino and Ambassador Rafael Seguis, head of the government panel talking peace with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
The 79-year-old Columban missionary arrived in Manila on a Philippine Air Force Fokker plane from the Edwin Andrews Air Base in Zamboanga City.
Suspected MILF members abducted Sinnott last October 11, but the group strongly denied any involvement in the kidnapping.
Sinnott was turned over to government officials at 4:25 a.m. by members of the MILF task force who were ordered to secure the priest’s release.
The task force turned over Sinott to Seguis and Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities head Maj. Gen. Reynaldo Sealana. The priest was then turned over to members of the military in Zamboanga City.
As of posting time, a press conference at the Villamor Air Base was ongoing. - GMANews.TV
Irish Ambassador Richard O’Brian also welcomed the priest, who was held captive for more than a month.
Sinnott was accompanied by Western Mindanao Command head Major General Benjamin Dolorfino and Ambassador Rafael Seguis, head of the government panel talking peace with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).
The 79-year-old Columban missionary arrived in Manila on a Philippine Air Force Fokker plane from the Edwin Andrews Air Base in Zamboanga City.
Suspected MILF members abducted Sinnott last October 11, but the group strongly denied any involvement in the kidnapping.
Sinnott was turned over to government officials at 4:25 a.m. by members of the MILF task force who were ordered to secure the priest’s release.
The task force turned over Sinott to Seguis and Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities head Maj. Gen. Reynaldo Sealana. The priest was then turned over to members of the military in Zamboanga City.
As of posting time, a press conference at the Villamor Air Base was ongoing. - GMANews.TV
