Irish missionary Fr. Michael Sinnott Thursday (November 12) cleared the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) of involvement in his abduction, saying a “lost command” and the “original lumad” (indigenous people) of Mindanao were responsible.

“(My abductors) are not the MILF... They want it to be known that they are the original lumad of Mindanao who lost their homeland and everything else when the merchants came in,” said Sinnott, who was freed early Thursday (November 12) after 31 days as a captive.

Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno agreed on Wednesday (November 11) to let the MILF facilitate Sinnott’s release, according to Press Secretary Cerge Remonde.

Puno had earlier accused the MILF of involvement in the kidnapping.

Sought for comment on Sinnott’s statement that his captors were not members of the MILF, Puno said through Assistant Interior Secretary Brian Yamsuan: “I stand by my previous statements.

“But I thank the MILF Central Committee for effecting the release of Father Sinnott.”

Military officials and the government panel engaged in peace talks with the MILF said no ransom was paid for Sinnott’s freedom.

The release of the 79-year-old missionary coincided with the arrival in Manila of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, prompting speculation that it was timed to coincide with her visit, the way the release of a kidnapped Red Cross worker was made on the day US Central Intelligence Agency head Leon Edward Panetta flew to Manila.

But MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal rejected the speculation.

Iqbal refused to comment when asked if the kidnappers freed Sinnott because they knew Clinton was coming.

Ambassador Rafael Seguis, the chairman of the government peace panel, also told reporters that Sinnott’s release had nothing to do with Clinton’s visit.

Said Lorelei Fajardo, Philippine President Gloria Arroyo’s deputy spokesperson: “I think that’s a mere coincidence. You know we’ve been working on (Sinnott’s release) for a long time, for one month already.”

“Well, we can’t do anything (about the timing of Father Sinnott’s release)... The important thing is that (he) is alive, safe and healthy, and he’s now free,” Fajardo told reporters at a briefing in the presidential palace.

She said there was daily pressure on the government to secure the safe release of Sinnott “whether Secretary Clinton will arrive or not.”