It is four days since Ces Drilon and her two-man camera crew went missing deep in the forests of Sulu with their last reported sighting on the foothills of Mount Tumatangis (Tagalog for despairing, how apropos though unintended).
One of this writer’s journalist friends who is familiar with Sulu describes the area of Mt. Tumatangis as “not only deep in the jungle but with the terrain having quite many underground caves, making the area ‘ideal’ for the Abu Sayyaf guerrilla tactic of staying below ground whenever possible (remember the Viet Cong subterranean tunnel network?) and of changing locations often to avoid detection.”
The area is already quite a distance from where Ces and the three other captives were snatched in en route to Maimbung town as Mt Tumatangis is beyond Kulasi and already in the Patikul-Indanan corridor.
There are other unnerving bits of information this writer trying to verify but one thing apparent, the ‘interception’ of Ces’ group by the men of ASG Albader Parad was not a chance meeting. They had obviously been closely tracked by ASG ground spotters who enjoyed full mastery of the terrain.
Emerging media accounts have also revealed these new details, as contained in the latest update of the Philippine Daily Inquirer:
“Drilon, cameramen Jimmy Encarnacion and Angelo Valderama, and Prof. Octavio Dinampo were seized by armed men in Barangay Labbah, an isolated area, Maimbung Mayor Najib Maldisa said Tuesday.
The gunmen were purportedly led by Albader Parad of the Abu Sayyaf and Gafur Jumdail of the Moro National Liberation Front Misuari breakaway group.”
The report goes on to detail that “Drilon and company, along with the driver and the dispatcher of the Toyota Tamaraw open pickup they were riding in, were held at gunpoint in Labbah while on their way to Barangay Kulasi 10-12 kilometers away.
“Before they could get to Kulasi, they had to pass two more barangays—Datu Ugis and Kapuk Punggul.”
“They were on the main highway in Labbah when the Tamaraw was stopped.”
“And when you enter Labbah, you’ll have to walk because the road is impassable by motor vehicle.”
Labbah is also the route used by Moro National Liberation Front forces and Abu Sayyaf bandits traveling from the towns of Talipao, Parang and Indanan.”
Quoting witnesses, Maimbung Mayor Najib Maldisa told the Inquirer “Drilon and company were ordered to alight from the pickup and to walk into the Labbah interior.”
He said the driver and the dispatcher, whose names have not been made available, were freed at around 10 a.m. on Monday.
ARMM police Chief Supt. Joel Goltiao, who first confirmed the abduction Sunday, June 8 told reporters that based initial information, the gunmen brought their captives to the Karawan complex situated in the middle of the towns of Indanan, Maimbung, Parang, Talipao and Patikul.
Against the backdrop of these development, and with a news blackout in place, the waiting, and prayers now begin with various sectors standing vigilant.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the National Union of Journalists yesterday exprssed “grave concerns” for the safety of Ces Drilon and her media crew.
“Whatever the abductors stand for, whatever their goals are, there is absolutely no justification for seizing journalists whose sole concern is to seek out the truth and present it as accurately as possible,” the NUJP said.
IFJ Asia-Pacific added, “The fears held for the ABS-CBN crew are a stark reminder that journalism in the Philippines has not ceased to be an incredibly dangerous profession and we honour those journalists who work for press freedom under such difficult circumstances.
“Media owners must ensure that adequate preparations and safety measures are provided for all journalists and media workers who report from especially dangerous regions in the Philippines.”
All around the government is facing called for immediate resolution of the incident. Perhaps indicative of the conundrum now on their lap, Malacanang spokesmen yesterday found themselves alternately saying the ABS-CBN crew had indeed been abducted or were still just considered “missing.”
As the day ended, they finally conceded a news embargo had been observed since Saturday and that “the abductors would not be allowed to go unpunished.”
Our hearts do go out to Ces and her companions.
One unfortunate sidebar to this story that in the vastness of the internet and the wide open ‘democratic space’ it affords all those who can tap at keyboards, there have been pseudo-analyses suggesting the incident in Sulu could be a case of “kidnap-me.”
It is such thinking which erodes the credibility, and currency, of so-called citizen journalism.
Let us not peddle wild imaginings as Filipino lives hang in the balance.
Tags: abs-cbn, abu sayyaf, ces drilon kidnapping
The blogosphere (aka your “citizen journalism” you qualify as “so-called”) is a different environment, dude. It is not an edited environment (which seems to be your comfort zone) nor is it characterised by any sort of over-riding governance hierarchy. It is a Darwinian environment where ideas compete in a level field.
ANYONE can float ANY assertion, insinuation, or speculation and open it for scrutiny, critique, and comment. Here we need to be able to take it in the chin as well as we can dish it out. Those that consistently talk crap get voted out. Those that make sense get to keep their audience.
Deal with it.
Agreed. No offense meant and none taken, sir. Exactly the reaction I expected. Till the next contentious issues.
[...] wrong. There was a kidnapping, but I don’t know if I entirely agree with Gagelonia (in a subsequent, and thorough, roundup on emerging details on the kidnapping) who says it’s [...]