Yagami Website

The military on Wednesday said it will ask help from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in recovering kidnapped Irish priest Fr. Michael Sinnott.

Maj. Gen. Ben Dolorfino, commander of the military’s Western Mindanao Command, said Sinnott is being held in a known MILF bailiwick at the boundary of Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte but stopped short of blaming the MILF hierarchy for the kidnapping.

"We cannot discount the possibility because all organizations have bad eggs. Even the Armed Forces has bad eggs. No organization can claim that all its members are good. But the (MILF) organization will never do that, that heinous crime. No organization will ever do that but there is possibility that their members took Fr. Sinnott,” Dolorfino said in an interview.

He said government forces are coordinating with the MILF hierarchy for the safe recovery of Sinnot. He said the MILF leadership has agreed in principle to help in the effort within the framework of the existing ceasefire agreement.

Latest information received by the military said Sinnott and his captors are at the tri-boundary of Nunungan and Sultan Naga Dimaporo, both in Lanao del Norte; and in the town of Ticong in Lanao del Sur. Dolorfino said the priest and his kidnappers were sighted twice last Monday at the villages of Payong and Bauyan, both in Sultan Naga Dimaporo town.

They were last sighted in the tri-boundary of Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte around Tuesday noon.

Dolorfino said the military has yet to confirm reports that Sinnott had been turned over by the kidnappers to an MILF commander, one Latip Jamat, as reported by Chief Superintendent Angelo Sunglao, director of the PNP Regional Office IX.

“That’s not confirmed,” said Dolorfino. The 78-year-old priest was seized last Sunday night at his house in Pagadian City and boarded into a get-away vehicle. The suspects burned the vehicle and transferred to a speedboat.

Dolorfino said Armed Forces chief Gen. Victor Ibrado has asked the concerned military units to let the MILF organization to help in recovering Sinnot.

"The guidance of the chief of staff is for the (units) involved to give chance to the MILF to help recover the victim, that is why our approach is under the ambit of the ceasefire agreement," said Dolorfino.

He said additional troops from the Army’s 103rd and 104rd brigades were deployed at the boundary of Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte to cordon the suspects. He said they traced the ownership of speedboat used by the suspects in fleeing from Pagadian City.

He said the blue watercraft is owned by one Guingona Samal, alias Commander Ingo, a pirate leader operating in the area.

Asked if this means that pirates kidnapped Sinnott, Dolorfino said: “No. Its possible that he is merely an accomplice. Its possible that these (kidnappers) are from a kidnap-for-ransom group that have built-in network with other armed groups in the area," he said.