An Italian priest who was rescued yesterday after more than five months in captivity in the southern Philippines said he lived off snake meat and lizard and attributed his release to the "miracle of prayer."
Guiseppe Pierantoni, 44, was seized in October from his rectory in Zamboanga del Sur province on Mindanao island, 800km south of Manila, by a kidnap syndicate called the "Pentagon" group.
"I am really very, very thankful and very grateful to God and also to the Filipino government ... It was, I think, a miracle of prayer what happened to me," Pierantoni told a news conference in Manila, where he was flown to be presented to President Gloria Arroyo.
"I believe that after six months of living in the forest trying to escape ... the police and the army, it was a miracle to be freed and without any harm, without any particular suffering."
Pierantoni, wearing a grey sports shirt and dark trousers, was pale and appeared to have lost weight. He also said he was tired and confused.
"Welcome back, Father," a beaming Arroyo greeted Pierantoni on his arrival at the presidential palace.
But she had strong words for his captors, pledging: "We will not rest until this scourge has been wiped out of our land."
Arroyo called on the army and national police force to intensify operations to wipe out the Pentagon and other kidnap-for-ransom gangs, saying, "My marching orders: Give them no quarter. Annihilate them."
National Police Chief Leandro Mendoza said the recent capture of several Pentagon members allowed the military to tighten its cordon around the gang.
"Two days ago, a massive operation was conducted in the Zamboanga peninsula which led to the recovery of Father Pierantoni ... there was never a ransom paid," Mendoza said.
However, no gang members were arrested. The Pentagon gang is still holding a South Korean man.
The gang is believed to be made up of former members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front which is in peace talks with the government and has denied involvement in Pierantoni's abduction.
Government sources said Pierantoni was rescued near Tunga-wan, about 80km northeast of Zamboanga City, by a special police operations group, around 2am yesterday.
Officials said Pierantoni had been led to believe by his kidnappers that he was in nearby Basilan island with the Abu Sayyaf, a militant Islamic group that is still holding a US missionary couple and a Filipina nurse hostage.
Arroyo said she hoped the other hostages could also be freed soon.
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