ZAMBOANGA CITY – Police confirmed yesterday the kidnapping in Sulu of ABS-CBN broadcast journalist Ces Oreña-Drilon and two cameramen by the al-Qaeda-linked terror group Abu Sayyaf.
Abducted with Drilon were cameramen Jimmy Encarnacion and Angelo Valderama.
Police said the terrorists freed a state university professor who served as guide of Drilon’s group.
“As of now we are considering the case an abduction… there was no note that they (Abu Sayyaf) are demanding (ransom),” Sulu Police provincial commander Senior Superintendent Julasirim Kasim said.
But police sources said the terror group, which gained notoriety for kidnapping and sometimes beheading Christians including Western tourists and Church workers, is reportedly demanding P10 million ransom.
“There are reports of a P10-million ransom demand but the information did not emanate from me,” Chief Superintendent Joel Goltiao, police regional director for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) said.
The Abu Sayyaf – listed by Washington as a terrorist group – is estimated to have 380 fighters, down from more than 1,000 eight years ago.
It has been weakened by US-backed military offensives that have led to the killing and capture of many of its leaders and members.
The militants freed Mindanao State University professor Octavio Dinampo, who also heads the Mindanao People’s Caucus, a peace advocacy group.
In a statement, ABS-CBN said it only considers Drilon and her crew missing and appealed to the media “to report on this matter with utmost consideration for the safety of our news team.”
“All efforts are underway to find them and bring them home,” the statement read. “ABS-CBN News is in touch with the families and asks that their privacy be respected.”
Philippine National Police chief Director General Avelino Razon said they are prepared for the worst but would not yet consider Drilon and her companions kidnapped unless a ransom demand materializes.
“We have set PNP units into motion, the worst-case scenario you’re talking about, we are preparing for that,” Razon said. “But as of now we still consider this missing (persons) case.
“We are in touch with ABS-CBN and in fact they requested us to handle the case with caution. We have units that are already cooperating, coordinating with ABS and AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines). We have Gen. (Joel) Goltiao on top of the situation in the area,” he said.
The PNP chief said they have also coordinated with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). The MILF is the biggest Islamic separatist group in Mindanao. Sulu is a known stronghold of the MNLF, which signed a peace pact with the government on Sept. 2, 1996.
“As of now there are no other details yet on the incident but we are trying our best to resolve the incident,” Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan said of the group’s disappearance.
Kasim said he witnessed the arrival of Drilon and her crew at the Jolo airport on Saturday, and that the group did not ask for police escort.
Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) chief Lt. Gen. Nelson Allaga said Drilon’s group declined an offer of security protection from the 3rd Marine Brigade.
“As of now we are coordinating with the police to really find out the incident and the Marines are ready for any eventuality,” Allaga said.
Kasim said initial investigation showed that Drilon, her crew, and Dinampo left Jolo at dawn on Sunday in a yellow Tamaraw utility vehicle for Maimbung town “to cover something.”
He said armed men identified with Gapul Jumdail, younger brother of Abu Sayyaf leader Umbra Jumdail alias Dr. Abu Pula, a paramedic, stopped the group in Barangay Kusali, in Maimbung town.
Presidential Assistant for Sulu Amilbahar Amilasan said there were reports that the bandits brought Drilon’s group to Karawan complex, a known Abu Sayyaf lair in Maimbung.
Amilasan said he received information that Dinampo was carrying a handwritten note from Drilon when he resurfaced. But Amilasan said he wasn’t aware of the contents of the supposed letter or even the whereabouts of Dinampo.
It was Dinampo who reportedly helped arrange an exclusive interview for Drilon with the ASG at an unspecified rendezvous.
There were reports that Drilon wanted to interview Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist Umar Patek in his mountain hideout near Maimbung.
“What we are seeing here is a setup. Ces was lured to go Sulu for a big story,” a security official who declined to be named said.
Military, MILF ready to help
The military is ready to help police locate or rescue Drilon and her two companions, a spokesman said.
Lt. Col. Ernesto Torres said troops in the area were on standby for possible support operations in securing the release of the broadcaster and her companions.
“There are no specific instructions given to troops in the area except to, in the meantime, just follow the developments, monitor closely and should there be a need for the military to be directly involved in finding Ces Drilon we are ready to provide such support,” he said in an interview.
“What we can see from what happened to Ms. Ces Drilon in Sulu is the real color of the terrorists. We can see that they do not respect the law,” he said.
He said the Jolo-based Joint Task Force Comet, the military’s anti-terror unit, would support the police if asked to do so.
The MILF, for its part, said it has mobilized a unit to help the government locate Drilon and her companions.
Datu Jun Mantawil, chief secretariat of the MILF’s peace panel, said guerrilla intelligence operatives led by a Tausug political officer comprise the group that will help locate the missing ABS-CBN personnel.
Appeals and condemnation
An international media watchdog said it was “deeply concerned” for the safety of Drilon and her TV crew.
Bob Dietz, Asia coordinator for the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, said in a statement that the volatile southern region of the Philippines “remains insecure for the press, and we call on local authorities to work diligently to secure their safe and swift release.”
Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye expressed hope for Drilon and the crew’s safety and appealed to the media for restraint.
The Mindanao People’s Caucus, a peace advocacy group headed by Dinampo, appealed to law enforcers to exhaust all peaceful methods, and asked Christian and Muslim religious leaders to extend support.
Senators also condemned the kidnapping.
Sen. Loren Legarda, who was part of negotiations for the release of several hostages of terrorists and communist rebels, said that based on her experience, suspension of military operations had always been effective in ensuring the safety of the captives.
Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr., a second cousin of Drilon and chairman of the Senate committee on public information and mass media, said it was lamentable that members of the Fourth Estate were not spared by the bandits.
“The press is neutral and sacrosanct and should not fall prey to any group or any interest,” Revilla said.
Sen. Richard Gordon said journalists should exercise caution in entering terrorist lairs. He said the government could not pay ransom or negotiate with terrorists but back-channeling could be done, even by ABS-CBN.
Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. and Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said saving Drilon and her crew was paramount and that those responsible should be arrested and punished.
“The Abu Sayyaf Group must be held responsible,” Pimentel said.
Sen. Rodolfo Biazon said Abu Sayyaf was apparently back to its fund- raising activities.
“Most vulnerable victims are high profile personalities with the potential of their company coming up with the payment of ransom demands. This had been the mark of previous kidnapping incidents perpetuated by the Abu Sayyaf group,” Biazon said.
Biazon, chairman of the Senate committee on national defense and security, said visits to rebel camps in Mindanao, even by US Ambassador Kristie Kenney, should be regulated or even discouraged.
Basilan Bishop Martin Jumoad, in an interview with the Radio Veritas, appealed to the captors of Drilon and her companions to “protect the people in mass media.”
Shortly before the announcement of Dinampo’s release, the Mindanao People’s Caucus appealed through CBCPNews, the official news service of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, for the release of Drilon and her companions.
“Let this crisis see the strength of our solidarity and dialogue as brothers and sisters in Mindanao,” the MPC said.
The College Editors Guild of the Philippines also expressed concern for the safety of three ABS-CBN journalists.
“The CEGP joins other journalists and media workers in calling on authorities to ensure the safety of three ABS-CBN journalists reported to be ‘missing’ in Sulu,” the group of campus newspaper editors and journalists said in a press statement.
“We are greatly concerned with this news and pray for the well-being of our fellow journalists. We also appeal to authorities to do everything in their means to ensure their safety,” CEGP national president Vijae Alquisola said. With Aurea Calica, Jose Rodel Clapano, Evelyn Macairan, James Mananghaya, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Ranier Allan Ronda, Paolo Romero, and AP