Abu Sayyaf captive Vagni, a free man now after almost six months

Finally!

After 179 days of despair, struggles to keep up with his captors' frequent move from one hiding place to the next while minding the pain brought by health complications of his hernia, the Philippine's International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) announced yesterday that Italian volunteer Eugenio Vagni has at last redeemed his freedom from the bandit group Abu Sayyaf.

Check the press statement issued by ICRC.

Although I am not personally related to him and though my brother told me they used to share an office building at Central Plaza Bldg., JP Laurel, Davao City, where he used to see him smoke in the lobby, I feel very glad that finally he's free. For a foreigner who chose to leave his home country to help the poorest communities in the Philippines since 1982 (way before I was born) , I appreciate all his efforts and I guess he didn't deserve the ill-fate he'd been through.

I don't know if there was a ransom because the statement simply thanked local politicians and the armed forces of the Philippines. What do you think? Is it possible that either the government or the ICRC paid for the release of Vagni?

Looking at his face, it's so obvious his condition is bad, and I am quite certain he's malnourished, and under trauma. But these things do not matter now. What matters is he's free and I'm so glad he'd in no time recover with the loving support of his family.

Photo Credit: here