Ces Drillon, Jimmy Encarnacion, and Angelo Valderama are finally all free," ABS-CBN said in a statement. "We are thankful our prayers have been answered and our efforts rewarded."
Ces Drilon, cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion and Mindanao State University professor Octavio Dinampo were released late Tuesday night, nine days after they were abducted in Sulu province. Philippine National Police Director General Avelino Razon confirmed the hostages were released at around 11 p.m. Tuesday.
The release of Ces Drillon, Jimmy Encarnacion, and Angelo Valderama could not have been possible without the cooperation of the people of Sulu and their local government. We thank them and share their hope for enduring peace in Mindanao.
"They were picked up by Jun Isnaji and secured by four policemen at Sitio Danasi, lower Sinumaan, Talipao, Sulu and brought to the house of Mayor Alvarez Isnaji," Razon related in a text message. Jun Isnaji is Haider Isnaji, the mayor’s son. "Ces Drilon and company are in good condition but they will immediately be given medical attention and appropriate nutrition. A plan for airlift o Zamboanga, and a reunion with family are also being considered," said Razon. He said the three will have to first undergo a debriefing in Zamboanga City before they are flown back to Manila. Ces Drilon, Encarnacion and Dinampo were with another ABS-CBN cameraman, Angelo Valderama, when they were kidnapped in Maimbung, Sulu, on June 8 while they were on the way to interview a top commander of the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group.Angelo Valderama was released on June 12 after a P2-million ransom was reportedly paid for his “board and lodging.”
In a phone interview Tuesday night from Zamboanga City with reporters in Camp Crame, Razon denied that any ransom payment or concession had been made to the kidnappers who were believed to be Abu Sayyaf members. He said the negotiators had built on the goodwill developed with the kidnappers since the release of Valderama last week and the “cancellation” of Tuesday’s noon deadline for the payment of P15 million.
The release of the hostages, Razon claimed, was merely "due to the persistent and persuasive efforts of the local crisis committee under Indanan Mayor Alvarez Isnaji and Governor Sakur Tan."
No military or police elements were present in the release operations.
Mayor Isnaji had been under pressure to secure the release of the captives, except that earlier Tuesday, Sulu Gov. Abdusakur Tan said he had stopped all negotiations with the kidnappers.
Haider Isnaji also said he had been on the phone with the kidnappers around six times beginning with their first call at 6:15 a.m. on Tuesday.
“I told them that no P15 million is forthcoming, that both the government and ABS-CBN have a no-ransom policy,” he said, adding that the kidnappers “finally dropped the deadline.”
He said he was able to convince the kidnappers “to accept a livelihood package instead.”
Razon said that if there was any lesson from the kidnapping, it was also to properly exercise press freedom.
"Ang aral po dito laging sinasabi hindi natin puwedeng i-exercise press freedom na malalagay ang [The lesson here is we can't exercise press freedom by putting] reporters or journalists in harm's way, na hawak ng terrorista or criminal elements," said Razon.
Thank God that this kidnapping incident has already finish. We at photoshop world - your graphics and photoshop tutorials are happy and thankful for those who help for resolving this as early as possible.
Ces Drilon and Company finally released
Ces Drilon and Company kidnap for ransom update
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Broadcast network ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation on Wednesday said it would not pay ransom to Abu Sayyaf militants who are holding its news crew.
The Abu Sayyaf is demanding P10 million for the safe release of the hostages, according a military report.
Militants are holding the network's senior reporter Cecilia Victoria "Ces" Oreña-Drilon and her two cameramen Jimmy Encarnacion and Angelo Valderama, including a university professor Octavio Dinampo.
The four were intercepted near the village of Kulasi in Maimbung town on June 8 while on their way to clandestinely interview a senior Abu Sayyaf terror leader Radulan Sahiron, who is said to be planning to surrender.
"ABS CBN News journalists Ces Drilon, Jimmy Encarnacion, and Angelo Valderama have been kidnapped for ransom. ABS CBN News is doing everything it can to help the families of its kidnapped journalists through this harrowing ordeal," the television network said in a statement released on Wednesday.
"However, ABS CBN News will abide by its policy not to pay ransom because this would embolden kidnap for ransom groups to abduct other journalists, putting more lives at risk," it added.
Police said the hostages are still alive, but it was unclear where the Abu Sayyaf is hiding the victims. "They are alive. We have sources who told us that all four hostages are alive," Chief Superintendent Joel Goltiao, commander of police forces in the Muslim autonomous region, told the GMANews.TV.
Goltiao said there are efforts to negotiate with the kidnappers for the release of the hostages. "There are options here and one if to locate the hostages and negotiate for their safe release," he said.
He said the police are closely coordinating with Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan, the head of the local Crisis Management Committee, in resolving the problem peacefully. "Governor Sakur Tan and the crisis committee are working hard to resolve this problem," he said.
Police have tagged Gafur Jumdail and Albader Parad, a young, but notorious Abu Sayyaf leader who is wanted both by Washington and Manila for terrorism and killings, as behind the kidnappings. "As far as we know, Parad and Gafur are behind the kidnappings," Goltiao said.
Parad's group was also tagged as behind the kidnapping early this year of Maria Rosalie Lao, 58, a rice trader in Jolo town.
He 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. The US has offered up to $750,000 bounty for Parad's capture.
The Philippines' largest Muslim rebel group, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, also offered to help secure the release of Drilon's team which arrived in Sulu on June 7 from Zamboanga City.
Senior Superintendent Julasirim Kasim said Drilon did not coordinate with them when they arrived in Sulu. She also declined military escorts. He said the victims were believed taken to the hinterlands of Indanan town.
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. It also kidnapped in the past local traders and most of those kidnapped were freed in exchange for ransom, but many were also raped and killed. - GMANews.TV
