BUTUAN CITY – The wife of a Manobo tribesman seized by armed men believed to be members of the New People’s Army (NPA) in the Surigao del Sur town of San Miguel last month has appealed to the rebels to release her husband.
Taloy Aguilo Astudillo was abducted in Sitio Inadan, Magroyong, San Miguel, on December 3 last year, police said.
His wife, Emalyn Bolando-Astudillo, 31, implored the NPA on Monday to free her husband “for the sake of our children”. Emalyn issued the appeal as she gave birth to her youngest son at San Miguel Community Hospital in San Miguel town.
“Ila unta itug-an asa nila dad-a si Taloy, kung buhi pa ba o gipatay na nila (They should tell us where they brought Taloy, whether he is still alive or if they already killed him),” Emalyn said in a video provided to the Philippine News Agency by Datu Rico Maca, the Indigenous People Mandatory Representative (IPMR) of San Miguel town.
Emalyn said it would ease her pain if she would know the true condition of her husband, adding that their children, too, are asking when will their father would be home.
Taloy and Emalyn now have four children, the oldest being 12.
Since her husband had disappeared, she said the family has encountered hardships that their children had to stop going to school.
Emalyn said she and her children only rely on Taloy to provide all their needs.
Days after her husband was abducted by the NPA, Emalyn said she and her children left their village because of fear.
Maca said Emalyn only returned to their town to give birth.
Maca said the local government of San Miguel has already provided Emalyn with cash assistance, food, and other needs of her children, especially the newborn.
“I am calling again to the NPA rebels to release Taloy if he is still alive. And if they already killed him then they should tell us where did they bury him,” the tribal leader said.
“I heard his children asking their mother about their father. I just looked at them saying nothing with so much pain thinking about the real condition of Taloy, my fellow tribesman,” Maca said.
He added that the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) are still searching for the victim.(PNA
