Friday, July 20, 2007

FREE AT LAST, FR. BOSSINI HARBORS NO ANGER AT HIS CAPTORS

"I am not angry with them(kidnappers). I pray for them. I hope one day they can go home to their families,” Fr. Gian Carlo Bossi who was released by his captors in the evening of July 19, tearfully pronounced when presented to media this morning in Zamboanga City .

Looking lean and weary, in his black suit, Fr. Bossi said that he felt very sentimental about his release last night as it was the birthday of his father, a proof that despite the terrible situation he was in, he remained sane and at his best wits. Asked where he was brought by his captors, he said that it was always clear to him that it was Lanao; it has always been from Payao to Lanao.

DILG Secretary Ricardo Puno, in a press briefing at Camp Batalla , made in clear that no ramsom money was involved though there was demand for ransom from the kidnappers in the beginning.

He said that 2000 AFP and PNP were involved in the operation which lead to the successful recovery of Fr. Bossi, who was “dropped” by his captors at the Karumatan National Highway, Lanao del Norte where he was picked up and recovered by government troopers and brought to Zamboanga.

Although Secretary Puno refused to go into details about the negotiation and recovery operations, he explained that after the kidnappers were warned that "should anything happen to Fr. Bossi, it will be a different kind of operation for them", the kidnappers became more interested in releasing Fr. Bossi.

"Maybe it was because of the intense pressure from the AFP", Secretary Puno said. The recovery of Father Bossi was made possible with the constricting movements of the AFP lead by Western Mindanao Command Chief Lt. Gen. Eugenio Cedo and intermediary of the PNP thru P/Chief Supt. Jaime Caringal and City Police Chief Manuel Barcena.

Secretary Puno also made it clear that the recovery of Fr. Bossi was not a "friendly separation," hot pursuit operation is still being conducted against the kidnappers

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