[ADN Kronos] Mary Jean Lacaba, one of three Red Cross workers kidnapped over two ten weeks ago in the southern Philippines has been released, the International Committee of the Red Cross announced in a statement. It urged the kidnappers to release the remaining two hostages, Italian Eugenio Vagni and Swiss national Andreas Notter "without delay and unconditionally".The Red Cross said it was relieved at Lacaba's release but remained "very concerned" about the safety of Vagni and Notter.
Lacaba was freed by her captors at 9pm Manila time, according to the Red Cross.
"She appears to be in good health, although very tired and extremely worried for her two colleagues, Eugenio Vagni and Andreas Notter, who are still being held hostage," said the Red Cross.
"For Eugenio Vagni and Andreas Notter, their loved ones and the whole of the ICRC, the nightmare of this abduction is not over," said Alain Aeschlimann, the ICRC's head of operations for East Asia, South-East Asia and the Pacific.
"Once again, we ask that they remain unharmed. While we welcome this first positive move, especially after a very tense and difficult week, we reiterate our appeal to the kidnappers to let Eugenio Vagni and Andreas Notter go without delay and unconditionally."
Aeschlimann thanked "various high-ranking government officials" for their "unwavering support during this difficult time" and their behind-the-scenes negotiations with the kidnappers, who are allegedly members of militant Islamist separatist group Abu Sayyaf.
Lacaba, Vagni and Notter were abducted on the southern island of Jolo on 15 January during a visit to a water project at a local prison. They are believed to have been held in dense jungle on Jolo.
Concerns for the hostages' safety mounted after a Tuesday deadline expired after which the kidnappers had threatened to behead one of the hostages unless security forces surrounding their jungle stronghold pulled back.
The governor of Jolo's surrounding Sulo province, Abdusakur Tan Sulu's governor Tan imposed a state of emergency on Jolo shortly after the Abu Sayyaf deadline expired. The declaration puts all security forces on alert on Jolo island and curtails the movement of people.
In a reported phone conversation with Philippines Red Cross president Richard Gordon an hour before the deadline expired, Abu Sayyaf leader Albader Parad refused to free the hostages and said the group remained serious about its beheading threat, despite the ongoing negotiations.