Hope continues for captured Filipino priest sighted alive

Marawi, Philippines, Jun 27, 2017 / 08:04 am

Captured priest Father Teresito "Chito" Suganob was seen alive on Sunday in a part of a Philippines city under Islamist militant control, Agence France Presse reports.

"We don't have details of his health. We were just told that he was sighted alive," military spokesman Lt. Col. Jo-Ar Herrera told reporters in Marawi, citing reports from rescued civilians.

Militants of the Maute group stormed the city of Marawi, on the island of Mindanao, May 23. The group, formed in 2012, pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in 2015.

The militants still have about 100 civilian hostages, whom they use as human shields, ammunition carriers, and stretcher-barriers.

Father Suganob, who is vicar general of the Marawi territorial prelature, was featured in a video released one week after his capture. He appealed to President Rodrigo Duterte to withdraw the army and stop the airstrikes.

Several bishops, including Cardinal Orlando Quevedo of Cotabato, have appealed for the hostages' release.

Most of the city's 200,000 people have fled since its occupation. Nearly 400 people have been killed in the fighting in Marawi.

The city is mostly Muslim. An eight-hour truce on Sunday allowed residents to celebrate the end of Ramadan, but military air and artillery bombardment of militant enclaves resumed with the truce's end.

The government has said some of the militants appear to be from abroad, including countries like Russia, Indonesia, and Malaysia. Herrera said there are indications other slain militants have come from the Middle East.

The militants' violence began after a failed army and police raid to capture Isnilon Hapilon, a local Islamist leader. Their initial attack burned several buildings, including the Catholic cathedral and the bishop's residence.