An abducted midwife escaped from his
kidnappers after 10 days in captivity in a southern Philippine province, a
military spokeswoman said Sunday, dpa
reported.
Eleazar Gumera, 45, was kidnapped on January 28 in Lamitan town in Basilan province, 900 kilometres south of Manila, after helping deliver a baby
in a village.
Lieutenant Esteffani Cacho, a regional military spokeswoman,
said Gumera escaped on Saturday evening.
"He slipped away from his captors by pretending to
answer the call of nature and (he) ran away when he had the chance," she
said. "He walked for several hours and swam in the seas."
A passing fishing boat picked up Gumera and brought him to
the nearby village of Bato.
Village officials turned Gumera over to Lamitan Mayor
Roderick Furigay on Sunday, Cacho said.
While no group has claimed responsibility for Gumera's
kidnapping, authorities suspected that al-Qaeda-linked Muslim Abu Sayyaf rebels
were behind it.
The rebels are still holding captive three government
teachers in Basilan. A 9-year-old boy has also been seized by unidentified
kidnappers in Basilan on February 1.
In the nearby island of Jolo, Abu Sayyaf rebels are holding
captive three staff of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), who
were abducted on January 15.
The hostages - Swiss Andreas Notter, Italian Eugenio Vagni
and Filipino Mary Jean Lacaba - have appealed to Philippine authorities and the
ICRC to hold negotiations for the freedom.
Their captors have demanded that the military pull out first
before negotiations are held. The armed forces rejected the condition, and
reiterated they were prepared to rescue the hostages.
The Abu Sayyaf has been blamed for a number of deadly
terrorist attacks in the Philippines as well as high-profile kidnappings
involving foreign hostages.
...