As of 11:00 P.M. June 17, 2008, broadcaster Ces Drilon, her cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion and Professor Dinampo, have been freed by their bandit kidnappers in Indanan, Sulu. A few hours after the freed hostages were delivered to Mayor Isnaji’s son, they were flown via a Huey helicopter to a military camp for debriefing. All negotiators, including Senator Loren Legarda, as well as military and police officials vehemently denied payment of the P15 million ransom demanded earlier, but of course, that could also be part of the whole negotiation/agreement, we don’t really know.

How Newscaster Ces Became the News

Drilon was laughing and crying during the initial press conference, visibly happy and relieved despite her wretched appearance. She thanked all the negotiators, her peers in the media and her Kapamilya network for all the help and prayers. She was also very apologetic to her superiors and local military commanders “for being stubborn and failing to follow protocols” and to her family and the families of her crew for subjecting them to this ordeal.

“I’ve been in and out of Mindanao, and I want to understand the situation here. Sa kasamaang palad (Unfortunately), there was some betrayal involved, and we were kidnapped,” she told reporters early Wednesday in Zamboanga City.

She refused to get into the details but simply said, “We’ll get there. We are cooperating with the investigation and we condemn [the kidnappers] for what they did.”

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Tags: ,ABS-CBN Broacasting Corporation,Abu Sayyaf Group,Ces Drilon,Filipino broadcaster kidnapped,Jimmy Encarnacion,kidnap for ransom,Loren Legarda,Philippines
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Eight days after broadcast journalist Ces Drilon and her cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion, together with Mindanao State University professor Octavio Dinampo, were abducted by alleged members of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), a P15-million ransom has been demanded with a deadline at noon of June 17th. Mayor Alvarez Isnaji, negotiator, said Drilon called relaying the demand and begging for help. Meanwhile, ABS-CBN, Drilon’s network, reiterated its “no ransom policy” to protect journalists from future abductions.  It likewise denies allegations that it has abandoned its news crew.

Isnaji claims that the kidnappers informed him that the Drilon family has agreed to pay the P15-million ransom.  Isnaji stated that it is Ces Drilon’s parents who want to pay the ransom.  The ransom was reduced from P20 million to P15 million, based on what was allegedly agreed upon by the kidnappers and Drilon’s family. If ransom is not paid by deadline, the kidnappers insist that there will be repercussions.   However, Isnaji denied threats by the captors to execute hostages if the demands are not met.

Tags: abduct journalists,ABS-CBN,Abu Sayyaf Group,Ces Drilon,Mayor Alvarez Isnaji
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Police have confirmed that Philippine TV broadcaster and newswoman Ces Drilon together with her two other news crew were abducted Sunday in the southernmost province Sulu by armed men believed to be members of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf Group. ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp., a local top TV network, issued a brief statement saying their 3-man news team were sent to Mindanao upon the request of Mindanao State University Professor Octavio Dinmapo to cover an event, but have since gone missing in Sulu. Police Chief Joel Goltiao from the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao said the newsmen were intercepted in Maimbung, Sulu by armed men believed to be Abu Sayyaf members.

Goltiao says that the media group were supposedly picked up by Dinmapo in a university hostel but, “Along the way in Kulasi, Maimbung, Sulu, they were intercepted by an armed group and now they are held in captivity”. He said the group was brought to Indanan town in Sulu. He named the abductors as Albader Parad, an Abu Sayyaf member, and Gapur Jundain, a former member of the erstwhile separatist Moro National Liberation Front who recently joined the extremist group.

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Tags: abduction,ABS-CBN,Abu Sayyaf,Ces Drilon,Sulu
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