Freed hostage refuses to give up teaching post

From the Gulf Today (Aug 25): Freed hostage refuses to give up teaching post

A woman public school teacher kidnapped by the Al Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf militants refused to quit or seek a new and “safer” assignment elsewhere despite the ordeal she underwent in the three days that she was held hostage on the island province of Sulu in Mindanao.

“The kidnapping emboldened me to continue teaching, convinced that only through proper education can Tausug (tribal) children learn the value of peace and spiritual perfection,” said Adrina Donsil.

Donsil met Governor Mujiv Hataman of the Autonomous Region in Mindanao (ARMM) and other officials on Tuesday following her release from captivity three days after her abduction by the Abu Sayyaf on Aug.16.

Donsil said the kidnapping occurred while she was aboard a passenger jeepney (mini-bus) on her way to work at a public elementary school in a village in the coastal town of Patikul in Sulu, a known hotbed of the Abu Sayyaf.

Donsil, a divorced mother, said that despite her ordeal, she was determined to continue teaching in Patikul for the sake of her students.

“We just walked and walked for three days, crossing rivers and through hilly terrains,” she recounted her ordeal at the hands of the militants.

“I thought,” Donsil added, “I would no longer be reunited with my fellow teachers and my family.”

John Magno, the regional ARMM secretary of education, who also met Donsil lauded her for her dedication to duty despite her ordeal as he stressed: “She is the epitome of public service at its best.”

Officials said the Abu Sayyaf freed Donsil without any ransom through the intercession of Moro religious leaders, ARMM school officials as well as representatives of the Patikul Parents-Teachers Association.

http://gulftoday.ae/portal/deceec59-1b1a-4629-84a5-3aedf8ee413c.aspx