[AyPee] A priest taken hostage last year by Maute militants described how military airstrikes helped crush the siege of Marawi, but said a Muslim autonomy deal is crucial for preventing new fighting.Reverend Teresito Soganub recalled his 116-day captivity in a news conference where he described how he and the other hostages constantly feared for their survival amid the airstrikes and clashes. He said he and the other hostages were forced by their captors to collect powder from firecrackers and unedetonated military ordnance, which the rebels used to make bombs.
Explosions and gunfire repeatedly shook the ground and smashed buildings where the rebels ordered them to lie low during fierce fighting, said Soganub, who couldn't recall how many near-death moments he experienced. He said, "Every moment, day and night, we were facing death. We didn't know if we'll still be alive in the next hour or next minute."
When the siege began, about 120 armed militants barged into a church compound, where Soganub said he was seized with five church workers and others. Later, in the buildings where they were hidden, Soganub counted about 120 hostages with him at one time.
During the fierce fighting, the rebels took cover in concrete buildings and houses, which they used as combat bases and sniper posts. But military strikes and artillery fire gradually caused that combat advantage to crumble and allowed troops to advance,
Soganub said, "The airstrikes were terrible, you could fill each crater they dug with two cars, and we could get killed if they hit our building dead center or on the sides," adding that two of the kidnapped church staffers were killed in airstrikes and artillery bombardments.
Soganub said Malaysian and Indonesian gunmen were involved in the fighting but that local militants, including Hapilon, led the uprising. Hapilon, who died during the final battles, visited their hideout occasionally to lead a prayer and check on the hostages.