The award-winning television journalist Ces Drilon in this undated photo in the Internet and a wanted poster of his captor, Abu Sayyaf terrorist leader Albader Parad. Drilon and her two cameramen, Jimmy Encarnacion and Angelo Valaderama, including their guide Professor Octavio Dinampo are being held by Parad's group, police says.
SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 10, 2008) – Philippine security forces, backed by US military intelligence on Tuesday searched for four people, including an award-wining television journalist and a university professor kidnapped by the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf group in Sulu province.
Militants intercepted Ces Drilon and her two cameramen Jimmy Encarnacion and Angelo Valaderama, including their guide Professor Octavio Dinampo. They were seized over the weekend in the village of Kulasi in Maimbung town while pursuing an exclusive story about the Abu Sayyaf.
Drilon works for the television giant ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. while Dinampo teaches Political Science at the Mindanao State University.
Unconfirmed reports said Dinampo was freed his captors, but this could not be independently verified. Dinampo’s wife told the Mindanao Examiner that the fate of the victims remain unknown.
Police have tagged Gafur Jumdail and Albader Parad, a notorious militant leader wanted both by Washington and Manila for terrorism and killings, as behind the kidnappings. Parad’s group was also tagged as behind the kidnapping early this year of Maria Rosalie Lao, 58, a rice trader in Jolo town.
The Philippines’ largest Muslim rebel group, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, also offered to help secure the release of the hostages.
US forces, aiding local soldiers in fighting terrorism in Sulu, are helping in the search for the four hostages by providing electronic intelligence, military sources said.
No other details were made available on the extent of the US military involvement in the search, but American soldiers had previously used unmanned aerial vehicles and spy planes, including satellite imagery in tracking down Abu Sayyaf militants in the jungles of Sulu and Basilan and other parts of the southern Philippines.
Parad was among the Abu Sayyaf militants that seized 21 people, mostly Asian and European tourists in April, 2000 from the Malaysian island-resort of Sipadan.
Last year, Parad’s group also kidnapped seven people in Sulu and beheaded them after their families failed to pay up ransom. Parad is also included in the terror list both of Washington and Manila for his involvement in the spate of terror attacks and kidnappings of foreigners.
Military authorities said the kidnappers were demanding ten million pesos in exchange for the safe release of the victims. Other reports said the captors demanded as much as twenty million peso ransom.
The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) and the peace advocate group called Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC) where Dinampo belongs condemned the kidnappings.
The MPC said it would hold an ecumenical prayer with other peace organizations in Davao City for the safe release of the hostages. Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan has also convened the Crisis Management Committee to address the problem.
The ABS-CBN appealed to the media to report on the matter with utmost consideration for the safety of its news crew. “All efforts are underway to find them and bring them home. Until we learn more details, ABS-CBN News requests other media to report on this matter with utmost consideration for the safety of our news team,” it said in a statement.
The ABS-CBN said it is in touch with the families and asks media that their privacy be respected. Police and military authorities have imposed a news blackout on the kidnappings and security officials and their spokesmen would not answer their phones.
Drilon's team arrived in Sulu on Saturday from Zamboanga City and police said the victims were believed taken to the hinterlands of Indanan town. Police said Drilon did not coordinate with them when they arrived in Sulu. She also declined military escorts.
Drilon's group is billeted at the Sulu State College hostel in Jolo town where they took two rooms and left on Saturday afternoon after ordering foods good for 20 people.
A hotel staff said he saw Drilon hurriedly left and even asked her where she was going. “She was really in a hurry and I even asked her where they were going and Ces Drilon only replied that they would just be nearby. They never came back since Saturday.”
Drilon's group was the second from the television network to be kidnapped in Sulu in the past eight years. Reporter Maan Macapagal and her cameraman Val Cuenca were also kidnapped on the island while working on exclusive news on the Abu Sayyaf.
Independent journalist Arlyn dela Cruz was also kidnapped in Sulu while covering the Abu Sayyaf. Another photojournalist Gene Boyd Lumawag was shot in the head by an Abu Sayyaf militant while shooting the sunset in Sulu several years ago.
The Abu Sayyaf had also seized foreign journalists covering the group's kidnapping of 21 Asian and Western holidaymakers from Sabah. Most of those kidnapped were freed in exchange for ransom. (With reports from Nickee Butlangan)
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