November 12, 2009, Agence France-Presse, Sinnott jokes about Philippine kidnapping, by Jason Gutierrez,

November 12, 2009, Agence France-Presse, Sinnott jokes about Philippine kidnapping, by Jason Gutierrez, 

MANILA, Philippines—Elderly Irish priest Michael Sinnott may have been forced to live in mosquito-infested swamps during his month as a captive of Filipino Muslim rebels, but he had plenty to laugh about.

Speaking in a mixed local Filipino dialect and a thick Irish brogue after being released on Thursday, the 79-year-old priest chuckled as he recalled this time in the rough jungles of southern Mindanao island.

In a nationally-televised press conference, Sinnott said he was raring to return to his parish in Pagadian city, where he has served for decades and runs a foundation helping disabled children from impoverished families.

"I've been there for years working, that's where my work is," Sinnott said when asked why he wanted to return to the troubled south, adding with a smile he was not concerned about being abducted again.

"They will hardly kidnap me a second time because I am a bit old, and I find hiking a bit difficult at times. I think they'd be glad to kidnap a younger man next time."

Sinnott was seized by six gunmen from his mission house in Pagadian on October 11, becoming the latest in a string of missionaries seized for ransom in recent years.

But Sinnott, who has a heart condition, said he harbored no grudges against his captors.

He referred only briefly to the first few hours of his ordeal -- when he had his hands tied together and was blindfolded while being taken from Pagadian on a speedboat -- choosing instead to focus on how well he was treated after that.

"The conditions were very primitive, but they couldn't have done more to make them as easy as possible for me," he told the reporters after being brought to Manila to meet President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

His only complaint, he said with another smile, was that the menu eventually became tedious.

"We got what you call sliced loaf, which they got especially for me. I had that twice a day usually, and then some rice for supper. They had sandwich spread to put between the bread," he said.

"I mean, after a month, the regular menu was the same everyday. It was bound to become monotonous."

Despite the military cordoning off large jungle areas while searching for him, Sinnott said his captors managed to slip in supplies at regular intervals.

He said that he was kept in a clearing in a swamp for his first 10 days in captivity, and had to share hammocks with his guards, with whom he swapped stories because there was simply nothing else to do.

"All I could do for a week was to lie and sit on the hammock all day, and all night," Sinnott told journalists after meeting with President Arroyo in Manila.

He said they were "mostly very kind" and tried to engage him about their ideology in the first few days, before finally admitting they hoped to free him for money -- although authorities said no ransom was paid.

And after his friends had repeatedly expressed concerns over the past month that he may die in captivity, Sinnott was keen to show that being a hostage had done nothing to diminish his energy or passion for missionary life.

"I've had no sleep since Tuesday, we have been travelling and hiking and I feel a bit tired. But otherwise, there is not a thing wrong with me," he said.

"And I hope to be able to continue my work, for another few years at least, here in the Philippines."