MANILA, Philippines — Irish missionary Fr. Michael Sinnott Thursday cleared the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) of involvement in his abduction, saying a “lost command” and the “original lumad” (indigenous people) of Mindanao were responsible.

“[My abductors] are not the MILF … They want it to be known that they are the original lumad of Mindanao who lost their homeland and everything else when the merchants came in,” said Sinnott, who was freed early Thursday after 31 days as a captive.

Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno agreed on Wednesday to let the MILF facilitate Sinnott’s release, according to Press Secretary Cerge Remonde.

Puno had earlier accused the MILF of involvement in the kidnapping.

Sought for comment on Sinnott’s statement that his captors were not members of the MILF, Puno said through Assistant Interior Secretary Brian Yamsuan: “I stand by my previous statements.

“But I thank the MILF Central Committee for effecting the release of Father Sinnott.”

Military officials and the government panel engaged in peace talks with the MILF said no ransom was paid for Sinnott’s freedom.

The release of the 79-year-old missionary coincided with the arrival in Manila of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, prompting speculation that it was timed to coincide with her visit, the way the release of a kidnapped Red Cross worker was made on the day US Central Intelligence Agency head Leon Edward Panetta flew to Manila.

But MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal rejected the speculation.

Iqbal refused to comment when asked if the kidnappers freed Sinnott because they knew Clinton was coming.

Ambassador Rafael Seguis, the chair of the government peace panel, also told reporters that Sinnott’s release had nothing to do with Clinton’s visit.

Said Lorelei Fajardo, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s deputy spokesperson: “I think that’s a mere coincidence. You know we’ve been working on [Sinnott’s release] for a long time, for one month already.”

“Well, we can’t do anything [about the timing of Father Sinnott’s release] … The important thing is that [he] is alive, safe and healthy, and he’s now free,” Fajardo told reporters at a briefing in Malacañang.

She said there was daily pressure on the government to secure the safe release of Sinnott “whether Secretary Clinton will arrive or not.”

Handshake with Arroyo

From Zamboanga City, Sinnott arrived in a Fokker plane at Villamor Air Base in Pasay City with Seguis and Maj. Gen. Ben Dolorfino, chief of the Western Mindanao Command, some three hours before Clinton arrived in Manila.

Ms Arroyo greeted Sinnott with a handshake and posed with him for photos on the media’s request.

Irish Ambassador Richard O’Brien and a couple of Columban missionaries embraced Sinnott before he headed to the air base’s Kalayaan Hall, where he spoke with members of the media.

Dolorfino said Sinnott was turned over to the government’s ceasefire committee led by Seguis at around 4:30 a.m. Thursday by MILF officers assigned to negotiate with the kidnappers.

The site of the turnover—at which Maj. Gen. Reynaldo Sealana, chair of the government panel in the Joint Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities, was also present—was Barangay Sanggali in Zamboanga City.

Remonde said Sinnott’s release could help facilitate the resumption of the stalled peace talks between the government and the MILF before the yearend.

“[His] safe release and the role that the MILF played toward this end is, of course, very contributory to the progress of the peace talks. Indeed, this may be seen as a concrete manifestation of sincerity on the part of the MILF to pursue the peace process which we welcome,” Remonde said.

Boat ride

Sinnott said that on Wednesday, he and his captors “started hiking at about 5:30 [p.m.], and we got on a boat after 10 to 15 minutes.”

They negotiated a river—which, according to Dolorfino, could be in Sultan Naga Dimaporo in Lanao del Norte—for an hour before his kidnappers transferred him to a two-engine pump boat.

Four MILF members who were part of the task force working on Sinnott’s release escorted him during the entire eight-hour boat ride to Zamboanga City.

Sinnott is to stay at the Columban house in Singalong, Manila, for three days before flying to Ireland for a vacation, Fr. Desmund Quinn told the Inquirer.

Sinnott said he hoped to return to his base in Pagadian City “because I’ve been there for years working.” He said his month-long ordeal had not discouraged him from going back.

Continued pursuit

“They will hardly kidnap me a second time because I am a bit old and hiking was difficult... Perhaps they’d be glad to kidnap a younger man next time,” Sinnott said, drawing chuckles from his audience.

Dolorfino said the military would continue pursuing Sinnott’s kidnappers, six of whom, he added, had been identified by the police.

He said the military would track down the kidnappers based on Sinnott’s account.

For Philippine National Police Director General Jesus Verzosa, the MILF remains a suspect in the kidnapping.

“We are not yet clearing anybody,” Verzosa said on the sidelines of the launch of the National Capital Region Police Office’s high-tech command center in Taguig City.

Chief Supt. Leonardo Espina, the PNP spokesperson, said the police would look into Sinnott’s statement clearing the MILF of involvement in his abduction.

“It’s normal for kidnappers to mislead their victims and authorities by assuming a different personality,” said Espina, a former chief of the PNP anti-kidnapping unit.

Indispensable role

Remonde also said on radio that “there should be no letup in the pursuit of the people responsible for the kidnapping of Father Sinnott despite his safe release.”

But in a statement, Ed Malaya, spokesperson of the Department of Foreign Affairs, noted the “indispensable role played by the [MILF] leadership in securing [Sinnott’s] release.”

“These circumstances underscore the obligation of both sides in maintaining an environment conducive to the conduct of peace talks, which we all hope will bring lasting peace and progress to Mindanao.”

A week ago, Sinnott’s kidnappers released a video of him saying that $2 million in ransom was being demanded in exchange for his freedom.

But Seguis told reporters: “Absolutely, definitely, there was no ransom … He was released to the peace talks committee in the region with the help of the MILF.”

Dolorfino also said the kidnappers were “pressured” by the MILF to release Sinnott without ransom.

In Camp Crame, PNP spokesperson Espina said it was intensified police and military operations, and not payment of ransom, that led to Sinnott’s release.

“This is a direct result of police and military pressure on the kidnappers. It’s borne out of our ‘constriction operations,’” Espina told reporters.

“One thing the governor underscored was the military pressure. She was very emphatic about it,” he said in reference to Zamboanga del Sur Gov. Aurora Cerilles, who headed the crisis management committee.

On the phone with the Inquirer in Zamboanga City at around 5 a.m. Thursday, the MILF’s Iqbal also said no ransom was paid for Sinnott’s freedom.

No force used

“[The captors] were pressured. We talked to the captors’ families. Not a single centavo was paid to them. We even spent a lot of money in our rescue efforts,” he said.

Iqbal also said no rescue effort was made “because we never used force.”

“It’s good that the captors yielded to our moral pressure and persuasion,” he said.

Still, Iqbal would not name who were behind Sinnott’s abduction beyond saying that they belonged to a syndicate.

“I cannot give you exact details because it’s part of the deal we made with them,” he said.

Iqbal also said MILF commander Aloy Ashree, whom Puno had accused of involvement in the kidnapping, led the MILF task force that worked for Sinnott’s release.

“It only shows that Puno was wrong,” Iqbal said. With reports from TJ Burgonio, Marlon Ramos, Allison W. Lopez and Jerry E. Esplanada