Msgr. Des Hartford concludes his diary written in captivity

Tuesday 4 November

I pray as best I can. Around 6 a.m. I get my first wash in 3 days from a hose downstairs. Continual conversation on the two-way radio. My release always seems to be ‘tomorrow’. My bible, breviary and rosary beads that I had requested were brought from Marawi. At 8 am. I was told to pack. The army were approaching. I was taken back to the house near the village. Feeling very low. One of my original captors brought me a cutting from the Daily Inquirer which said I would be released soon. A group of people on their way back of people on their way back to a mountain village came to look at me. One of them encouraged me to escape they seemed genuine. Their leader sat on the bed and every now and then he would spit though a tiny vent in the wall. If ever there was an international spitting contest the Maranaos would get the gold medals for accuracy. At 4:30 pm I was told to pack again. All this moving is exhausting. A 30-minutes walk to a house where there was a husband, wife and one little girl. This family is special. It is the only Christian family in the entire area. I felt relaxed. Everything was neat and simple. The little girl talked to me all the time. It seems that another rebel returnee from Lanao del Sur has brought up to 100 armed men to try to take me from the MILF. I am on the run with my guards. It is tiring and distressful because in has brought a new threat to my life. “The snares has been broken and we have escaped”. That verse of the psalm gives me a lot of hope and courage.

Wednesday 5 November

Despite the improved surroundings I did not to sleep well. I wrote a letters to governor Dimaporo and Congressman Datu Mangontara requesting them to finish the process immediately and forego political ambition. I also requested that the army do not get directly involved. My guards keep telling me that the moving around is for my safety and to avoid a clash with the armed group of rebel returnees. During the morning one of my guards suggested that he was open to a bribe if he and I were to try and escape together. About 9:30 a.m. we were told to move again. It seems the ground from Lanao del Sur is really out to get their hands on me and even take me to Lanao. We walked for 40 minutes through cornfields and ravines. The sun was hot but we had good covers under the banana tree the guards are apprehensive. Nobody knows what will happen if the other group catches up on us. I find it very distressing. I eat as many bananas as I can. At around 6:30 p.m. we were on the move again. My guards carry very heavy loads. They always bring my mosquito net and a cover that is used on the ground if the weather is dry and overhead if it is raining. We cross coconut groves and cornfields. At one point we were ordered to lie on the ground. A horse and rider galloped past into the night. They hear things at least 10 seconds before I do. After about 4 hours we came to another cornfield with 6 feet high stalks. My guards insisted that I take off my shoes so as not to leave marks. By now everyone was exhausted. They put up my net. The ground was damp and there was dew on the corn.

Thursday 6 November

I slept for about 3 hours and woke shivering. I thought I had a fever but luckily it was just the cold. At daybreak we had coffee made on a little gas stove. I read morning prayer before we left at 6:30 a.m. We hopped from stone to stone along the river bed for about a kilometers. I was wearing a black jacket with a balaklava. We only met one man. He was told he would have his throat slit if he said anything. We left the river and climbed for more than an hour. My energy was completely gone. We stopped once and I found it almost impossible to start again. The mosquitoes were bad. A clatter of wild monkeys passed by jumping from tree to tree. Eventually we came near an area where there were houses. We had stay in the wood. I tried to pray. I felt my prayer was heard when I said I did not want o die now. The scripture text I opened was the raising of Lazarus, “Loose his bonds and let him go free.” The anxiety of the guards makes me anxious. After dark we were on the move again under a bright moon there was an alert that an armed group were approaching from the opposite direction. One of the guards caught me by the hand and we begun to run in a semi circle around the hill. We ran and slipped, slipped and ran. I seemed to have gone beyond fear at this stage. It was almost exciting as if it was all just a dream. At last the ‘all clear’. I insisted I wanted to spend a night in a house. They insisted that I go into a small tarpaulin ‘tent’ they had erected in the long grass. I began for the first time to resent very much the way my guards were treating me even though they were saving me from being taken over by the other group who wanted to kidnap me for ransom. I ate some bread and drank the last of the boiled water. One of the guards is snoring near the tent.

Friday 7 November

During the night the mosquito net kept falling down. The mosquitoes were buzzing outside. I tries to pray as dawn was breaking. I resent this inhuman confinement.

Morning Prayer has the words of St. Paul. “When I am weak then I am strong.” My guards tell me it is almost over.

At about 9 a.m. I was allowed to come out and sit upright. I was taken back to a house in the village. On the way the guards had got some coconut from a tree which we ate. In the house I was given a meal a meal and water to wash. People fill me in on what has happened. According to them as many as 500 armed men from Lanao del Sur are looking for us. It is amazing that we avoided them for three days. The guards can survive for a long time in the jungle.

Around 2:30 p.m. great commotion again. I was dressed in the local malong and they gave me a large black veil worn by women and told to cover my head. We ran towards the forest again. Soldiers of the Philippine army had been sighted in the distance. The guards told me that negotiations were in their final phase but, if they failed I was to be handed back to my original captors. I prayed and told the Lord “I cannot take anymore”. The guards also told me that the group we narrowly escaped last night was from the MILF. They were trying to release me. It is ironic that I was unknowingly fleeing from a group that was trying to rescue me.

At about 6:30 p.m. just after dark a local MILF leader came and told us it is all over. Agreements have been finalized. For the last time I packed my things. The guards asked for forgiveness if they had mistreated me in any way. I felt no animosity against them. They had put their lives on the line in order to protect me. I felt a bit short changed by the fact that although it was over I still had to walk for about two hours under guard. They were afraid of unfriendly snipers. We went back to the MILF camp. There the one who had given me the notebook so that I could keep these notes talked about Islam and Christianity. Armed guards returned to say that the coast was clear and we walked on again in the darkness to what is considered the boundary of territories between the Philippine army and the MILF. The MILF commander handed me over to an official of the AFP. The rebel commanders quickly disappeared into the darkness but some of their ordinary foot soldiers joined the bandwagon to see things to their conclusion. Some of them rode motorbikes, others jumped on the vehicle of the AFP.

Msgr. Hartford is now back in his prelature in Mindanao.