MANILA, Philippines ? The video of abducted Irish priest Fr. Michael Sinnott aired by a TV network over the weekend will provide vital information that will help the military track down his kidnappers, a spokesman said Monday.

?This document may be used by our intelligence operatives to determine or confirm the initial information that we have gathered],? Armed Forces spokesman Lt. Col. Romeo Brawner, Jr. said in Filipino.

The video, which was the first proof of life of the abducted priest, showed Sinnott reading the demands of his abductors, among which was a $2 million ransom. He also identified a certain ?Abu Jayad? as one of his abductors.

Meanwhile, Brawner said that they have confirmed that no one of that name exists.

?Our intelligence community checked the existence if this person but we found out that this name or this person is non existent so now we know for a fact that this is just a pseudonym or a codename used,? Brawner said.

In a separate interview, Maj.Gen. Ben Dolorfino, Commander of the Western Mindanao Command citing intelligence reports said that the military knows which group is holding Sinnott but refused to identify which group.

?We already know by we cannot disclose them because in will compromise our operations,? Dolorfino said.

Brawner added that the video will provide them clues as to where the kidnappers are hiding.

?In the video, we can see more or less that there are vegetation growing there on the upper portion of the video, we can use it to confirm the general location where Fr. Sinnott is,? Brawner said.

Sinnott was abducted October 11 from Pagadian City by an alleged group of pirates and was turned over to another bandit group, the military said.

Earlier, the military said that the abductors where in the general area of the boundaries of Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front has also been suspected to be holding the priest but the group?s leadership has denied the allegations.
On Sunday, the Philippine government has rejected the $2 million ransom demand and the Crisis Management Committee (CMC), headed by Zamboanga del Sur Governor Aurora Enerio ? Cerilles, has maintained a no-ransom policy.

According to June Allan Molde, spokesman of the CMC tasked to facilitate the release of Sinnott, they have not established contact with the abductors over the last three weeks that the crisis has been ongoing.

Though the recent video of the priest aired by a TV network over the weekend is ?a very positive development,? Molde said that the abductors should still contact the CMC in order for proper negotiations to begin.

?We have to establish contact first before we proceed so there should be a negotiation first,? Monde said.