BAGUIO CITY -- As soon as Joseph Anayasan emerged on Friday from a flooded mining tunnel in Itogon, Benguet, where he was trapped for 11 days, he got the sad news from relatives that the police had declared him a fugitive.

Arlene Anayasan, his sister, said Joseph was even more irked when told that the police had reported that he was rescued two days earlier, on Oct. 1, but had fled to avoid an arrest warrant over a theft and robbery charge filed before a Baguio court.

Media reports quoted the Cordillera police director, Chief Supt. Eugene Martin, as saying that Joseph was found by rescuers as early as Wednesday, but had eluded arrest.

The Anayasan family, said Arlene, did not expect the attention given to Joseph and asked the media to respect their privacy.

Joseph, 30, was rescued by a group of miners on Friday, the same day Mines and Geosciences Bureau officials suspended a rescue effort to recover him.

Combined teams of local miners, Navy divers, volunteer rescuers and government engineers had been diving through murky tunnel waters for 11 days to rescue 16 miners trapped there.

"When the wrong news reached Itogon, I started thinking, 'Is Joseph a threat? Was he a terrorist?' Did they want him to just die there? It should have been important [to the government] to think of his safety first," Arlene told the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Saturday.

She said the family did not hide Joseph from the police. They helped get Joseph food and treatment when they drove him off in a van, as soon as he was brought out of the tunnel at about 3 p.m. Friday, she said.

The family surrendered Joseph to authorities at 11 a.m. on Saturday in Baguio City.

Records from the Benguet regional trial court said direct assault and frustrated homicide charges were filed by a Tuba policeman in 2003 against Joseph Anayasan and one John Anayasan. Their case awaits the decision of Judge Benigno Galacgac of the Benguet regional trial court.

An arrest warrant issued by a Baguio court against Joseph involved a theft and robbery case.

Arlene said Joseph has been out on bail for his Benguet case.

"He was not accosted by authorities when he did odd jobs. Recently, he tried small-scale mining and has been doing this for almost a year now," she said.

She said the family had talked to a lawyer to represent Joseph. She said they would seek bail for Joseph on Monday

Joseph is at the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center, where he is receiving treatment for fatigue and cuts. A team of policemen has been securing him.

In Itogon, members of a federation of small-scale miners said they were offended by reports that they were harboring criminals.

The complaint became a key issue among the Benguet Federation of Small-Scale Miners (BFSSM) board of directors who met on Saturday in the village of Virac there to assess the impact of the case of the 16 miners on the industry.

Lomino Kaniteng, BFSSM president, said the group has always been policing its ranks.

The federation has more than 16,000 members who mine for gold in eight of Benguet's 13 towns.