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ZAMBOANGA CITY—ABS-CBN senior reporter Ces Oreña-Drilon,
who, with two others, was released by their kidnappers
shortly before midnight on Tuesday, disclosed that they
were “betrayed.”
Drilon
on Wednesday morning did not, however, disclose who
betrayed them, except to say that she will cooperate
with the investigation to be conducted by the
authorities.
“There
was some betrayal involved kaya kami na [that’s
why we were] kidnapped,” Drilon said in a press
conference in this city together with Sen. Loren Legarda,
credited with having helped negotiate also for the TV
crew’s freedom.
Drilon,
cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion, assistant cameraman Angelo
Valderama and peace advocate-professor Octavio Dinampo
of the Mindanao State University, who served as their
guide, were seized last week in barangay Kulasi,
Maimbung, Sulu province, on their way to conduct
interviews for a special coverage.
The
kidnappers freed Valderama earlier.
Drilon
said she had not thought of ending up a kidnap victim
since she has been covering Mindanao for several years
already.
She
apologized to her employers, the ABS-CBN management, for
giving them headaches by ending up a kidnap victim.
In her
press conferences in Zamboanga City and in Manila,
Drilon admitted that she was “reckless” and was
“irresponsible” in being so consumed with chasing
stories she had overlooked the lives of her family and
her colleagues.
“While
my office knew to a certain extent [my coverage in
Sulu], I disregarded some warnings. I put the lives of
my team in danger. Sinuway ko ang [I didn’t
follow] instructions … . Naging matigas ang ulo ko
[I was hard-headed] at one point.”
“We came
to a point that we almost lost our lives,” Drilon said,
adding that the kidnappers threatened to behead them,
and at one point, even planned to order Encarnacion to
film the beheading of Valderrama.
“One
time when I was talking to [Sen.] Loren [Legarda], they
[kidnappers] slapped me,” Drilon revealed, citing they
were also “tied at some point.”
Drilon
looked haggard and seemed to have lost weight. Mosquito
bites were visible on her face and arms. She and the two
men bore bruises.
Philippine National Police (PNP) Director Gen. Avelino
Razon Jr. said in a separate press conference that
investigation is under way to determine how Drilon, her
crew and guide were kidnapped.
He said
the investigation would be conducted based on
evaluations on the debriefing of the victims.
However,
he said Juamil Biyaw, earlier tagged as a “military
agent” and who fell under a cloud of suspicion because
he was the only one in the group to turn back from the
site where the team was kidnapped, was not yet
considered a suspect, since they have yet to complete
the evaluation. Neither was Dinampo, the guide.
Earlier
reports disclosed that Biyaw was supposed to be with the
group of Drilon and Dinampo but he was separated from
the group while in Maimbung.
Dinampo
also underwent a debriefing at the Western Mindanao
Command on Wednesday, aside from having the same from
the police.
It was
Dinampo who arranged the interview of Drilon with the
alleged Abu Sayyaf bandits in Sulu.
“As of
[now] they are not yet considered suspects,” Razon told
reporters stressed. He said that Indanan Mayor Alvarez
Isnaji and his son, Jun, were also undergoing debriefing
in Manila with the Criminal Investigation and Detection
Group.
The Abu
Sayyaf kidnappers handpicked Isnaji to negotiate for the
release of the hostages while his son assisted him.
The CIDG,
however, was careful in tagging the father-and-son
tandem as suspects. It merely said they were invited to
shed light on the case and on their role as negotiators.
The
police have identified 14 suspects in the kidnapping.
Two of them were already identified and a P500,000
reward was offered for information leading to their
arrest.
Razon
disclosed that police and military operations were
launched just after the release of the hostages.
“We will
not allow them [kidnappers] to get away with it
[criminal offense],” he said.
“The
order is to go all-out against this kidnap-for-ransom
group,” he added.
The
orders for manhunt and punitive actions against the
kidnappers were separately given by Razon and AFP Chief
of Staff Alexander Yano hours after the victims were
released by their captors, allegedly headed by Al Bader
Parad and Gafu Jumdail.
Razon
said the release was a result of concerted efforts by
the police, military as well as the negotiators.
Reports
said that despite the no-ransom policy of the television
network, the victims were freed upon the delivery of the
P15-million ransom that the kidnappers earlier demanded.
Razon
denied such reports, saying the three were
unconditionally freed.
Legarda
said the release of the kidnap victims was “a confluence
of events and the collaborative efforts of everybody. It
just so happened that I was quietly working on a
parallel private initiative as requested by the
executives of ABS-CBN Chari [Villa] and Maria [Ressa]
and Ces herself who has been a friend for so many
years.”
Villa is
the head of ABS-CBN’s news department while Ressa is
overall head for public and current affairs.
Razon
directed the police office in ARMM to hunt the
kidnappers. He hoped the PNP would get more leads from
the victims.
Yano
said the AFP has shifted its stand—from a mere
supporting unit to a separate lead group—in running
after the Abu Sayyaf following the release of the
victims.
“Punitive actions will be launched against the
kidnappers and other terrorists in Sulu. We will be
using the full might of the government forces in that
area to go after them. Of course without unduly
compromising the safety of the civilian communities in
the area,” Yano said through AFP public information
chief Lt. Col.
Ernesto Torres. He said the units of the Marines, Army, Air
Force and the Navy in the area would carry the directive
of the chief of staff.
“For the
past week, we were just supportive of the PNP by
locating and securing Ms. Drilon. But this time, we will
be in transition by undertaking the military
operations,” he said.
Meanwhile, PNP spokesman Chief Supt. Napoleon Bartolome
advised journalists to take the cue from the case of
Drilon and her company by coordinating with authorities
in Mindanao or in any unsafe areas every time they set
out for interviews.
For its
part, the National Union of Journalists of the
Philippines said, “Even as we welcome back our
colleagues, we also urge everyone in our profession to
reflect on this incident as a sober reminder of the
risks we constantly face as we go about our work.
“If
anything, the kidnapping of Ces, Jimmy and Angelo
highlights a continuing problem within the industry that
adds to the external dangers and threats to press
freedom, and that is the responsibility of media owners
and outfits to ensure the safety and welfare of those
they send into the field, even into the line of fire, to
deliver the news to our audience.”
At the
same time, the bishop of Basilan on Wednesday advised
journalists covering southern Philippines to exercise
caution by not entering dangerous areas.
“Don’t
invite danger to come to you,” advised Basilan Bishop
Martin Jumoad to journalists coming to Mindanao.
Meanwhile, National Antipoverty Commission (NAPC)
Secretary Domingo Panganiban said the kidnapping of
Drilon and her crew is an act of banditry, and should
not be blamed on widespread poverty gripping Mindanao.
Panganiban said poverty should not be blamed for people
who are forced to commit acts such as kidnap-for-ransom.
“That’s
plain banditry. Kidnap-for-ransom is plain and simple
banditry. Ces [Drilon] and her crew went there and the
kidnappers saw the opportunity to make money. It is not
because of poverty,” he said.
He was
reacting to reports that people in some parts of
Mindanao were forced to join kidnap-for-ransom gangs
because of poverty. (With R. Acosta, C. Jimenez, J.
Mayuga) |
