From: an3892@anon.penet.fi
Subject: Fraszczack Released
Organization: Anonymous contact service
X-Anonymously-To: soc.culture.filipino
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1992 04:24:40 GMT

        ZAMBOANGA, Philippines (UPI) -- Muslim bandits released unharmed and
without ransom a U.S. missionary from Chicago held hostage 69 days in
the southern Philippine jungles, officials said Wednesday.
        Augustine Fraszczack, 55, was found abandoned Tuesday afternoon in
Lakit village, Basilan province, 570 miles south of Manila, said chief
government negotiator Joey Tugung.
        Tugung, an influential Muslim official, said no ransom was paid but
the kidnappers took his wrist-watch, a hand-held radio and other
personal belongings when he met with them three days before the
missionary was freed.
        Fraszczack, a Franciscan missionary from Chicago, was brought to a
Philippine Marine detachment in the provincial capital of Isabela and
then flown by helicopter to southern command headquarters in Zamboanga
City, 20 miles north of Basilan.
        He was then flown to Manila aboard a Philippine Air Force plane for a
medical checkup at the request of the U.S. Embassy, a presidential
palace statement said.
        Fraszczack is believed suffering from malaria, a disease transmitted
by mosquitoes and marked by periodic attacks of chills and fever.
Wearing a white T-shirt, denims and sneakers, Fraszczack looked thin,
pale and haggard and was walking with a limp when speaking with
Zamboanga earlier in the day.
        ``I was prepared to die,'' Fraszczack said. ``I could not escape
because I did not know where I was.''
        Fraszczack was seized at gunpoint Oct. 21 in Tuburan town, Basilan.
He said he was fed mostly fish and vegetables during captivity. He also
said he was forced to write several letters, including one sent to the
Pope and another addressed to U.S. officials, in which claimed his
captors would kill him if a $200,000 ransom was not paid.
        ``I had to follow orders or else they would kill me,'' he said. 
``Initially, there were six armed people guarding me. They said if the
military came they would kill me.''
        Fraszczack, a trained medic popular among the Yakan tribesmen in the
province, said the kidnappers warned him to stay away from Basilan.
        ``I have to leave with a heavy heart,'' said the missionary, who had
worked in the area since 1984.
        The Franciscan mission vowed to continue working with the Yakan tribe
in Muslim-dominated Basilan despite the incident.
        ``We renew our commitment to serve the Yakan people and live in peace
with all the people of Basilan regardless of religious or ideological
convictions,'' the mission said in a statement.
        Department of Interior and Local Governments Secretary Rafael Alunan,
who supervised the efforts to free Fraszczack, said his release was the
result of ``very skillful negotiations.''
        More than 400 people, including at least 25 foreigners, have been
kidnapped since 1988 in the southern Philippines. Several armed groups,
including bandits, Muslim separatists, communist rebels and private
armies of warlords, operate in the area.

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