Skin diving helped Filipino flee gunmen in Tawi-Tawi

ZAMBOANGA CITY—Ivan Sarenas held his breath as long as he could as he swam underwater in Tawi-Tawi on Wednesday to escape gunmen who had snatched him and fellow bird watchers Ewold Horn, 52, of The Netherlands, and Lorenzo Vinciguerra 47, of Switzerland.

“I saw an opportunity in the darkness of the night,” said Sarenas in a phone interview.

He said his experience in skin diving (like scuba diving but without breathing apparatus) helped him in his escape.

Sarenas said it helped that he was familiar with the waters of Tawi-Tawi. He was a regular visitor to the island province and just weeks before accompanying Horn and Vinciguerra there, Sarenas said he also went there with several other foreigners for bird watching.

Sarenas said he was plucked out of sea by fishermen near Languyan Island.

Languyan is about 57 kilometers from Panglima Sugala, where the abduction took place.

He was brought to the Languyan police station, where he was later fetched by Senior Supt. Rodelio Jocson, Tawi-Tawi police director.

Sarenas said he was unhappy despite his escape because he worried about Horn and Vinciguerra.

Horn and Vinciguerra are museum staffers in their countries and involved in animal conservation, he said.

Sarenas said what lured the two foreigners to Tawi-Tawi, as with others who came before them, were the Tawi-Tawi hornbill turtles and rare birds.

He said the two had tried to go to Tawi-Tawi in 1994, “but they were refused access to the area to see the hornbills.” “When they got permission, they immediately came over,” said Sarenas.

The Europeans also documented other species that they found in Tawi-Tawi, like cock owls and brown doves. They spent 14 days to do this, said Sarenas.

“I guess our movement has been monitored, we were watched,” Sarenas said. Julie Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao