MANILA, Philippines – It was a bittersweet homecoming Monday for 57-year-old engineer Armando Ducat Jr. who, after a warm welcome from students and parents of the Musmos Daycare Center in Parola Compound, Manila, learned that several students left the school he owns after he took several of them hostage in 2007.

Despite this, Ducat’s post-Christmas visit cheered him up when he was met by 136 children bearing placards which bore messages like “Mabuhay ka Jun Ducat!”, “Salamat sa Diyos, nakalaya ka na (Thank God, you’re free)”, and “Mahal ka ng mga taga-Parola (We Parola residents love you).”

“It’s been a year and nine months since I last saw the school. I am deeply touched by the warm welcome,” he told the Inquirer.

Addressing the people in the compound, Ducat urged the parents of 64 pupils, who left the school, to re-enrol their children.

At the same time, he said the incident where he held a busload of students hostage probably had nothing to do with the decision made by the parents of the 64 children.

“Maybe they had no more money for their children’s snacks,” Ducat said in Filipino.

During his visit, he distributed some 1,000 “magic boxes” to the kids in the compound as he apologized for not giving them grocery items or money.

The “magic box” was crafted by inmates at the Manila City Jail. Each contains either a P20 bill or a toy.

“I just decided to drop by for a visit at the daycare,” Ducat said.

He and his aide, Caezar Augustus Carbonell, were both charged with 26 counts of serious illegal detention before the Manila Regional Trial Court for the hostage-taking incident. Ducat said he was forced to take his students captive to denounce corruption in government. He later released his hostages and surrendered to policemen.

The two men were released from the city jail after they posted bail on Christmas Eve.

For her part, daycare educator Marie Asuncion expressed happiness over Ducat’s release even if she and three of her children were among those taken hostage.

“We no longer think of that incident. What’s important is he is no longer in jail and he’s back,” Asuncion stressed.