A Catholic bishop said Fr. Teresito “Chito” Suganob would undergo a post-captivity reintegration process, as he hopes for the priest’s complete recovery and resume active priestly ministry.
Bishop Edwin de la Peña of Marawi could not say how long the process would take but said the prelature has laid out plan for the priest’s reintegration.
“After his debriefing, the prelature has prepared a program for his rest, recuperation, healing and gradual reintegration into the ministry of interfaith dialogue in Marawi City, his original mission as priest,” he said.
The bishop met with Suganob on Monday afternoon at Camp Aguinaldo for the first time after the priest’s liberation but he said what transpired during the meeting “is only something between us for now.”
Suganob, who was abducted by the Maute Group when they occupied Marawi nearly four months ago, was rescued by the military when it overran the terrorists’ control center inside a mosque on September 16.
The priest, commonly known as “Father Chito,” was presented to the media at the military headquarters last Sunday.
He said he was not harmed by his abductors during his captivity, as he asked the public to pray for him. “Pray for me, for my recovery,” Suganob said.
The priest’s freedom also gave de la Peña’s hope for the release of other hostages, including some workers of the prelature.
He said that, while they are thankful, “we cannot say that we are happy, knowing that there are still many hostages that remain in captivity.
“We are very hopeful that Father Chito’s release is just the first step, and will be followed by the rescue of the other hostages, many of them women,” de la Peña said.
“We are hopeful that soon the war will be over and that the Maranaos can begin to go back home and rebuild their lives and rehabilitate their city,” he added.
Religious harmony
For more than 100 days, Suganob’s life was threatened by every air strike, gunshot and artillery bombardment that targeted his Islamic State (IS) group-aligned captors in the southern Philippines.
When Suganob, 51, began talking on Monday about his captivity following his rescue by Philippine troops in Marawi city, there were no bitter condemnations. He spoke of how Muslims and Christians should live in peaceful coexistence.
“I still believe in an interfaith relationship, that we can be united as Muslims and Christians, that we’re not enemies,” Suganob said onboard an Air Force plane that brought him to Manila.
Suganob has long promoted a dialogue between Muslims and Christians in the country’s south, regional assemblyman Zia Alonto Adiong said. Top military and defense officials met Suganob and he was briefly presented to a huge group of journalists, photographers and TV cameras at the military headquarters.
“Pray for me, for my healing and recovery,” said Suganob, who appeared remarkably healthy with a long, white beard and was in a jovial mood as he thanked his rescuers.
Asked how he was, Suganob said with a laugh, “Physically strong, handsome.”
He smiled and waved before being ushered out of a military hall without taking any questions.
Suganob was among many civilians abducted in May when hundreds of militants waving IS-style black flags laid siege to mosque-studded Marawi, a center of Islamic faith in the south of the largely Roman Catholic nation.
A few days after his abduction, Suganob appeared in a video, apparently taken under duress by the militants, in which he said he was with about 200 other hostages and that his captors wanted the military to withdraw its forces from the city.
“We want to live another day, we want to live another month,” Suganob said in the video while standing alone in front of partially burned buildings.
In another video, the militants were shown smashing religious statutes, ripping a picture of Pope Francis and toppling a crucifix in a Marawi cathedral, in what the military said was an attempt to foment a religious war. Military officials asked Facebook and other social-media companies to take down the video.
Other freed hostages have talked about female captives being abused and forced to marry some of the militants. Some hostages were shot and others were forced to loot houses, handle daily chores, like cooking, or made to wear black uniforms and carry firearms to fight alongside the militants, the military said.
Suganob said in the interview onboard the Air Force plane on Monday that he and other hostages were fed rice, sardines, noodles and corned beef taken from grocery stores by the gunmen, but the supply later dwindled alarmingly as the fighting intensified.
Military Chief of Staff Gen. Eduardo M. Año said the priest told him he was not harmed by the militants. Suganob will be allowed to rest and has not been subjected to a detailed questioning about his traumatic experience, Año told reporters.
The ordeal took a toll on the priest, he said. When somebody at one point told him about an apparent escape plan, Suganob refused to go along.
“No, allow me to die here. I have already accepted my fate,” Año quoted Suganob as telling fellow hostages, who considered making a dash to freedom out of desperation.
Suganob was not aware that the military was planning to rescue him despite the odds, Año said, adding that troops managed to drive the militants away from a mosque and then grabbed the priest and another hostage.
The gunmen continue to hold about 50 other hostages, Año said, adding that rescue efforts were under way.
Image credits: AP/Bullit Marquez