Spanish Claretion Father Bernardo Blanco, who was held captive by the jihadist and ISIS-affiliated Abu Sayyaf in the southern Philippines in 1993, died at a hospital in Quezon City on March 10.
Blanco, who hailed from the Spanish province of Zamora, died at Diliman Doctors Hospital past 1 AM at the age of 97, the Claretian Missionaries, his congregation, announced.
He was kidnapped by the Moro fundamentalists while driving his jeep to his parish church in Basilan, an island province in southern Philippines, on March 18, 1993.
The Claretian missionary escaped the extremists during a full moon, hours before dawn on May 6 in the same year, after 50 days in captivity.
While in the hands of the fundamentalists, Blanco fed mainly on cassava and fish.
A breakaway group from the Moro National Liberation Front abducted him on March 18. He was later handed to Abu Sayyaf.
Blanco escaped through the forest, running for 20 kilometers and sustaining wounds before paramilitary troops saw him and took him to safety.
He was ordained a Claretian priest in 1953.
After his ordination, Blanco went to Equatorial Guinea in Africa for his first missionary assignment, where he served for 22 years.
In 1976, Blanco was expelled from the Philippines, together with 51 foreign priests and 200 foreign nuns, by the dictatorial regime of Marcos Sr.
But in 1997, he returned to the Philippines and was sent to Zamboanga City, where he served in the youth ministry and propagated the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
He was appointed director at the Claretian Seminary in Quezon City in 1994, following a brief visit to Rome and Spain.
Blanco was also a superior and later spiritual director at Claret Theology.
He also served on the Claretian missions in Basilan as the parish priest of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish.
Blanco lived in the Philippines for 32 years, serving the church in different ministries.
“Fr. Bernardo Blanco faced expulsion and abduction, yet he remained unwavering in his missionary commitment,” his congregation said.
“His resilience and faith during this ordeal were widely acknowledged,” the congregation added.
The Claretians asked the faithful to remember him in prayers.
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