Pagadian City (AsiaNews) – The Zamboanga bus hostages were freed yesterday thanks to the mediation of Mgr Emmanuel Cabajar, Bishop of Pagadian, and are now back home.

The prelate spoke to AsiaNews and explained how he was able to get the hostages released.

Right after the release, he said he took care of some of the freed hostages. "They wanted to rest and eat a bit," he said, "so I took them to the House of the Colomban Fathers where they were met by relatives and taken home". But, initially, all 14 hostages had been freed on the outskirts of the city of Pagadian on Wednesday.

The incident had began on Tuesday at around 6 pm local time when a bus on its way to the city of Zamboanga was stopped at a police checkpoint.

Police ordered male passengers to get off the bus for a search, but instead of complying, three of them pulled out their guns and ordered the bus driver to take off.

After two hours, the bus carrying 14 women and children was stopped at a roadblock set up near Pagadian City, where the driver was able to escape.

The hijackers then locked themselves inside the vehicle and threatened to kill the hostages.

At this point the police called in Bishop Cabajar to negotiate with the hostage takers.

A local resident told AsiaNews that "Mgr Cabajar is well known and respected by the local population. This is probably why the authorities asked him to mediate with the hostage takers."
"They wanted another vehicle because the bus had two flat tires," the Bishop said. But the military, which had joined the police in the hunt for the hijacked bus, were opposed to the idea of giving the hijackers another vehicle to take away the hostages. So, by midnight, the mediation was interrupted.

"At this point, I spoke to the three men and told them if they freed the hostages I would drive them away on my own pickup," the Bishop said.

Initially, the hostage takers accept and told the Bishop to come back in the morning at around 6 am.

"In the morning I put on my bishop's cloak to reassure them about who I was and went back to the bus," the Bishop said. "But they had changed idea".

The hostage takers said they were going to take two children as insurance, but the Bishop refused.

"I told them no right away and tried to explain to them that my presence would be sufficient guarantee against any attack. But they were not convinced," he said.

"I was able to get on the truck where we were eight: the three hostage takers, myself and four hostages. I told three men that the police would not let them go and in the end, thanks to God, I convinced them".

The three men told the Bishop to drive away, to a place where the police could not catch them. "But it was difficult because the media and the police followed us. I had to stop at least four times to convince my pursuers to stop. After an hour and half, I was able to let the three men go," the prelate said.

Afterwards, he was unable or unwilling to say who the three men were except that they were young.

Mgr Cabajar, 62, has been the Bishop of the diocese of Pagadian since September 2, 2004. His diocese includes Pagadian City and 24 other municipalities in the north-eastern province of Zamboanga del Sur.

The diocese has a population of 942,000 people, 83 per cent Catholic. The remaining 17 per cent is made up of other Christians, Muslims and a small number of indigenous people who practice a local religion. (VFP)