Midwife released from two-month captivity

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines–Armed men released a midwife they kidnapped in Sulu last August.

Director Bienvenido Latag, chief of police of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said  Evangeline Taverisma, 57,  was freed at 6 a.m. Thursday in the village of Asturias in Jolo, Sulu.

Latag said no ransom was paid for Taverisma’s release.

The midwife was abducted on August 3 in Indanan town. She was on her way home from work at the Rural Health Unit when snatched by armed men.

Sources said the abductors were forced to free the victim after local authorities “pressured” the kidnappers’ families.