ZAMBOANGA CITY - Cebuano engineer Virgilio Fernandez, who was held in captive for 15 days by armed men in Basilan, was reunited with his family on Monday after "escaping" from this captors.
Fernandez had to stay overnight at the headquarters of the Philippine Army's Special Operations Task Force-Basilan camp in Isabela City for his security, following his supposed daring escape from his kidnappers in a hideout between the boundaries of Al-Barka and Tipo-Tipo towns on Sunday.
It was an emotional meeting for the 59-year-old Fernandez and some of his family members who flew in from Cebu City.
Fernandez's estranged wife and one of their sons, Virgil Pierre, were in tears upon seeing the former kidnap victim.
Speaking before reporters, Virgil said the family is "extremely grateful" that his father was freed despite a "harrowing ordeal" that they all had to go through for half a month.
Fernadez was abducted on June 3 while working on a construction project for US troops in Tipo-Tipo town.
"It was a great Father's Day gift and also a belated birthday gift for me," Virgil said.
The younger Fernandez celebrated his birthday on June 8.
Prior to reuniting with his family, Fernandez reiterated to the media that he managed to escape his kidnappers after "more than 10 attempts."
According to Fernandez, he pretended to be suffering from stomache and when he sensed that the "3 to 4 armed men" guarding him had fallen asleep, he took the chance to flee at around 1:30 a.m. on June 19.
Fernandez described his daring escape as "running for his dear life."
After several hours of "running and wandering" while constantly hiding from his kidnappers who may have been pursuing him, he was able to seek help from para-military forces in Barangay Kumetap, which borders the towns of Al-Barka and Tipo-tipo. He was later turned over to the authorities.
Fernandez said his kidnappers made him write a letter addressed to his family demanding a P9.8 million ransom. It was later raised to P20 million and then to P30 million.
Fernandez, however, pointed out that since he "managed to escape," not a single centavo was handed to his captors.
Among the other "ploys" that Fernandez used to "trick" his abductors were faking his identity (introduced himself as a foreman and that he has a twin brother who was the real engineer), pretending to suffer from various illnesses, and pretending to follow instructions.
In real life, Fernandez is an accomplished engineer. He was behind construction of the Bacolod airport, a mall in Manila. and several buildings in Cebu including a now-famous hotel. He was also an engineering licensure exam topnother in the 70s.
Asked what prompted him to take risks by escaping, Fernandez said: "It was my determination to live for my family and my work."
"Since they were likely to kill me anyway, I just took the chance," Fernandez explained. "I will not die without even taking the risk."
The Fernandez family left Basilan on Monday afternoon.
Family members are set to fly to an undisclosed place so that the former kidnap victim "may take some rest" with his family.
The family also said that the engineer will not be allowed to return to Basilan to continue his construction work.
