Father Chito celebrates first Mass after freedom
Fr. Teresito “Chito” Soganub concelebrates Mass presided over by Fr. Roengen Janaban of the AFP Chaplain Service inside Camp Aguinaldo on Sunday, his first time after 117 days of captivity in Marawi City. PHOTO COURTESY OF PAO AFP
MANILA— Fr. Teresito “Chito” Suganob turned to the Eucharist for the first time in nearly four months after he was rescued from the Maute terrorists in Marawi City.
Ending speculations that Suganob converted to Islam while he was held hostage, the priest concelebrated a Sunday Mass inside the military headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo, where he is undergoing debriefing.
About 40 military personnel attended the Mass which the priest described as a “celebration of life”, marking Soganub’s return to his priestly ministry a week since he was freed from the clutches of his captors.
The military also offered the Mass as a thanksgiving for the lives of all the civilians rescued from the hands of the Islamic State-inspired gunmen in the besieged city of Marawi.
In a photo released by the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Suganob was seen with bandage on his left eye after he underwent an ocular surgery.
The military said that Suganob also prayed for the soldiers fighting in Marawi and that he could return to St. Mary’s Cathedral in Marawi once the siege is over.
Suganob was in captivity for 117 days until he and another hostage were rescued by the military at the vicinity Bato Mosque in Marawi on Sept. 16. CBCPNews
