Hostage’s plea: Help get me out

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Help get me out.

That was what Norwegian Kjartan Sekkingstad asked his fellow captive Marites Flor to do should she be freed ahead of him by their Abu Sayyaf captors.

“Please do your best to help get me out,” Flor conveyed Sekkingstad’s message to president-elect Rodrigo Duterte during the command turnover ceremonies of the Davao City Police on Friday.

Flor said Sekkingstad wanted the best people in the government to secure his release.

Duterte announced that he had secured the release of Flor from the Abu Sayyaf and efforts are underway to free Sekkingstad.

Incoming presidential peace adviser Jesus Dureza said Flor had a meeting with Norwegian Ambassador Erik Forner during the ceremony.

Flor was quoted to have told Forner that she felt sorry that Sekkingstad is still held captive.

“I’m so sorry because Kjartan is not here,” Flor told Forner.

Forner, in turn, told Flor: “But you should be happy now.”

Flor and Sekkingstad were among four people abducted nine months ago by the Abu Sayyaf from a Samal island resort.

Flor’s partner, Canadian Robert Hall, was beheaded after a ransom deadline lapsed last week and following a similar killing of fellow Canadian John Ridsdel in April.

Canadian Ambassador Neil Reeder said he wanted to pay a visit to Duterte to discuss trade and economic issues.

Reeder said he also wanted to discuss with the incoming president the beheadings of Hall and Ridsdel.

However, Duterte flew to Cebu City yesterday to attend the thanksgiving party tendered by his supporters.

Reeder is among the diplomatic corps that will attend the inauguration of Duterte on June 30.

On the other hand, the police Anti-Kidnapping Group (AKG) is hoping to conduct a debriefing on Marites Flor after she was freed by the Abu Sayyaf after nine months of captivity.

AKG chief Senior Supt. Roberto Fajardo said their unit is now coordinating with Dureza and the Davao City Police to schedule the debriefing with Flor.

The Abu Sayyaf turned over Flor through an emissary and brought her to the house of Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan II before she was turned over to the military’s Joint Task Force Sulu.

At the task force headquarters, Flor narrated her ordeal in the hands of the Abu Sayyaf and how they maltreated her and the other hostages during their nine months in captivity. – Cecille Suerte Felipe