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By Llanesca T. Panti, Reporter
Was there ransom paid or not?
This question, among many others,
could be answered when Kidnap, a special documentary on Abu
Sayyaf’s kidnapping of Ces Drilon, her cameramen Jun Encarnacion
and Angelo Valderama, and their aide, Mindanao State University
Professor Octavio Dinampo, airs at 10 p.m. tonight on ABS-CBN, right
after TV Patrol Linggo.
The documentary will feature
Encarnacion and Drilon’s accounts when they were seized by the Abu
Sayyaf bandits from June 8 to 16 such as how the kidnappers
threatened to cut their lives short by beheading them and their
realization that no story is worth dying for.
It was Encarnacion himself who
filmed the documentary during his captivity that reportedly
endangered his life even more.
News broke out that Drilon, an
award-winning broadcaster for ABS-CBN, and her group, were seized by
the Abu Sayyaf at the village of Kulasi in the town of Maimbung on
June 10. Drilon’s team arrived in Sulu province on June 7 to
pursue a story after an Abu Sayyaf leader reportedly sent surrender
feelers.
Valderama was released ahead of
the others on June 12 after a negotiation between the abductors and
Indanan town Mayor Isnaji Alvarez, a leader of the Moro National
Liberation Front.
The 47-year-old Drilon’s
release, along with those of Encarnacion and Dinamp o, happened on
June 17, after talks with Drilon’s longtime friend and Sen. Loren
Legarda.
Media reports have repeatedly
claimed no ransom was paid, but that “livelihood projects” have
been offered to the kidnappers.
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