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By Al Jacinto, Correspondent
SULU: Abu Sayyaf rebels holding a Philippine
television news crew and a university professor on the southern
island of Sulu have cut off communication lines with government
negotiators, leaving the fate of the hostages at the mercy of their
captors.
“We have been trying to get in touch with the
kidnappers, but all their cell phones have been turned off,” said
Indanan town Mayor Isnaji Alvarez, who is negotiating with the Abu
Sayyaf, a Muslim group tied to the al-Qaeda terror network.
Although the Abu Sayyaf cut off the
communication lines, the US military continued to assist local
authorities in tracking down the hostages and their captors.
American soldiers helping Filipino security forces fight terrorism
were said to be using electronic surveillance and unmanned aerial
vehicles to trace the location of the hostages.
The rebels freed late Thursday television
cameraman Angelo Valderama in the village of Sinumaan in Talipao
town. But the gunmen are still holding multi-awarded ABS-CBN
reporter Ces Oreña-Drilon and another cameraman, Jimmy Encarnacion,
including their guide, professor Octavio Dinampo of Mindanao State
University.
The Philippine military took custody of
Valderama and hid him from dozens of reporters now encamped in Jolo
town, Sulu’s capital.
Malacañang expressed relief on the release of
Valderama and hope that the three other captives would be freed
soon. Drilon’s network also reported that talks are underway to
have the hostages freed soon.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the
government also “continues to hope for the safety” of the
remaining hostages.
Bunye added that Malacañang has yet to confirm
if indeed a certain amount was paid to the kidnappers for
Valderama’s freedom.
“The government frowns on payment of
ransom,” he said.
Alvarez, a former leader Moro National
Liberation Front, another Muslim rebel group, admitted they paid a
few hundred thousand pesos to the kidnappers for the freedom of
Valderama. “We are convincing the kidnappers to release Ces Drilon
ahead of the others, but they refused for a still unknown reason,”
he said.
The money paid to the kidnappers came from
Alvarez and Sulu Deputy Gov. Nur Ana Sahidulla. “We paid some sort
of a ‘board-and-lodging’ fee to the kidnappers to secure the
release of one hostage,” Alvarez said.
He added that the kidnappers were also
negotiating directly with Drilon’s family, but he did not give
details of the progress of the talks.
The kidnappers reportedly demanded ransom of
between P10 million and P50 million. Ransom of between P2 million
and P5 million was allegedly paid to the gang for Valderama’s
release, other sources said. But that was denied by ABS-CBN network,
which maintains a no-ransom policy.
Media reports said P2 million was paid to the
Abu Sayyaf for the cameraman’s freedom, but Alvarez denied this
and at the same time criticized Undersecretary Amilasan Amilbajar,
of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Mindanao, who was
allegedly the source of the news.
“Amilasan should stop talking to the press
because he does not know what is going on here. He will just get
reports from different sources and then passed them off as his
reports. He is not even part of the negotiating team. This is
political propaganda,” Alvarez said.
He added that he had spoken with Drilon on her
cell phone before Valderama was freed. “She was sobbing and asking
us to help them. She said the kidnappers tied the hands of the other
hostages,” Alvarez said.
Drilon did not say whether they are being fed
properly or tortured or abused by their captors. Valderama was
sneaked out of Sulu by the military and brought to Zamboanga City
after the kidnappers freed him to the emissaries of Alvarez.
Alvarez and Sahidulla on Friday briefed Sulu
Gov. Sakur Tan, head of the local crisis-management committee, on
the progress of the negotiations.
The kidnappers have selected Alvarez to
negotiate for the release of the hostages. Alvarez is also one of
seven candidates running for regional governor in elections in the
Muslim autonomous region in August.
The kidnappers originally demanded P10 million,
but radio station dzRH in Manila on Thursday reported that the
militants asked P50 million from the victims’ families negotiating
directly with the Abu Sayyaf.
The report said the hostages should have been
freed on Wednesday after unnamed negotiators agreed to pay the
ransom, but the Abu Sayyaf did not release Drilon’s group after
ABS-CBN issued a statement saying it will not pay ransom to the
terrorist group also tied to another international terrorist group,
Jemaah Islamiah.
The radio network, which quoted unnamed sources
privy to the negotiations, also reported that the kidnappers have
already lowered their demand to P25 million. The reports could not
be independently confirmed and police in Sulu said Dinampo had been
separated from the group of Drilon.
Police said the hostages are being held by Abu
Sayyaf leaders Albader Parad, Gafur Jumdail and Umbra Jumdail, also
known as Dr. Abu, in Sulu’s hinterlands.
Parad and Jumdail are notorious Abu Sayyaf
leaders wanted by Washington and Manila for terrorism and
kidnappings. The two are also believed coddling Jemaah Islamiah
bomber Dulmatin and Umar Patek, tagged as behind the 2002 deadly
bombings in Bali, which killed more than 200 mostly tourists, and in
several attacks in Jakarta.
The Abu Sayyaf group was also tagged as behind
the kidnapping early this year of Maria Rosalie Lao, 58, a rice
trader in Jolo town. It was also behind the kidnappings in 2001 of
21 people, mostly Asian and European tourists from the Malaysian
island-resort of Sipadan.
Last year, the group kidnapped seven people in
Sulu and beheaded them after their families failed to pay up ransom.
The US has offered up to $5 million in bounty
and Manila as much as P10-million reward for known Abu Sayyaf
leaders, including Jumdail, for their capture—dead or alive.
Tan warned journalists to stay away from Abu
Sayyaf lairs.
“We do not want problems anymore. Journalists
should not even glorify or interview the Abu Sayyaf. They are
terrorists. We have many beautiful places and pristine beaches in
Sulu. Our Sulu is rich in culture and heritage, that is what
journalists coming to Sulu should write or report about, not the Abu
Sayyaf,” the Sulu governor said.
-- With Angelo S. Samonte
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