Former victims of kidnapping get peace citations
By QUEENIE CASIMIRO, ABS-CBN News Zamboanga | 12/01/2008 4:28 PM
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| Freed aid worker Esperancita Hupida (File photo) |
Some of the victims of kidnapping in the south were cited for their contributions to the peace efforts in Mindanao.
The Peace Advocates of Zamboanga and the Inter-solidarity Movement chose Merlie Mendoza and Esperancita Hupida of the Nagdilaab Foundation Inc., Prof. Octavio Dinampo of the Mindanao People's Caucus, the late Fr. Reynaldo Roda of Tabiawan, Tawi-Tawi, and Jemson Ismael of Zamboanga City as the honorees for this year's Peaceweaver Awards.
The awards were given in line with the activities for Mindanao Week of Peace.
Fr. Ramon Bernabe of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate received the award for Roda. The priest was killed by his abductors after he refused to be taken by them.
In his response to the citation given him, Dinampo said he is not giving up on peace. This, despite his experience in the hands of his captors in Sulu. Dinampo was kidnapped along with ABS-CBN Senior Correspondent Ces Drilon and her crew on June this year.
Dinampo said that it was a saddening experience for him since the group that kidnapped them were his previous comrades in the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) whom he thought would never think of harming him or his friends.
Hupida, in her speech, said she is not retiring from peace advocacy work in the Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi region. This even after her captors warned her never to return to Basilan.
Hupida was with four other companions in the Nagdilaab Foundation when they were taken hostage in Tipo-Tipo, Basilan. Three were immediately released. Hupida was freed about two weeks before her friend Mendoza.
Mendoza did not attend but a representative relayed her thanks to the organizers of the awarding ceremony.
