|
By Angelo S. Samonte, Reporter
and Al Jacinto, Correspondent
President Gloria Arroyo ordered
the military to chase after the kidnappers of television journalist
Cecilia “Ces” Oreña-Drilon and her companions.
”I order the [military] to
launch a massive manhunt for the kidnappers of Ces Drilon,” the
Chief Executive said Wednesday in her speech in Davao City, where
she witnessed the merger of Region 11 Lakas Christian-Muslim
Democrats, or Lakas-CMD, and the Kabalikat ng Mamamayang Pilipino,
or Kampi.
In making the order, President
Arroyo stressed that “peace is a central ingredient to the
nation’s and the island’s [Mindanao’s] future [and that] it is
a path we remain firmly committed to achieving.”
”This [restoring peace]
includes defeating the NPA [New People’s Army], wiping out the Abu
Sayyaf once and for all and returning the Mindanao countryside to
the people,” she said. An extremist group, the Abu Sayyaf,
abducted Drilon’s group on June 8. Communist-led, the New
People’s Army has been fighting for a Maoist state for almost 40
years.
Earlier Wednesday, Interior
Secretary Ronaldo Puno confirmed that Abu Sayyaf gunmen had
kidnapped the ABS-CBN news team and held them for nine days in Sulu
province in southern Mindanao region.
Puno said it was Avelino Razon
Jr., the chief of the national police, who headed a rescue committee
that was created solely for recovering Drilon’s group. He added
that “young” members of the Abu Sayyaf were responsible for the
kidnapping.
”There’s no veteran member of
[the extremist group] who took Drilon and her team,” Puno said.
“I think the kidnapping was really planned.”
The Interior chief added that
early on, the rescue committee that included military and police
forces in Sulu was “able to locate in general terms where they
[kidnappers] were in Sulu.”
”We were always able to place
their location within an area of five square kilometers,” Puno
said. He pointed out that the location is a “very large area in
the mountains” of the province.
Poised for offensive
In Sulu, government forces also
on Wednesday were preparing for a fresh offensive against the al-Qaeda-linked
Abu Sayyaf hours after the release of Drilon’s group.
“We will launch an offensive in
a few days, although [military] operations against the Abu Sayyaf
still continue in Sulu,” Army Maj. Eugene Batara, a spokesman for
the Western Mindanao Command, told The Manila Times.
Police in Sulu said they were
awaiting orders to mount fresh assaults against the kidnappers.
“We have 150 warm bodies here,
and I can produce up to 400 policemen to run after the kidnappers.
We are awaiting orders,” Sulu police chief Julasirim Kasim said.
Conflicting ransom story
The Abu Sayyaf last week freed
one of Drilon’s cameramen, Angelo Valderama, after negotiators
reportedly paid a P5-million ransom.
Sources in Sulu said at least P10
million stashed in two black bags were allegedly paid to the Abu
Sayyaf for the freedom of Drilon’s group.
Police said no ransom was paid
for the release of all the hostages, but the militants originally
demanded P20 million and had threatened to behead their captives if
money is not paid.
Police have tagged Albader Parad,
Gafur Jumdail, Umbra Jumdail, Tuan Walis and Sulayman Patta as among
about 30 gunmen involved in the kidnapping.
Other sources in Sulu said as
much as P10 million was allegedly paid to the Abu Sayyaf for the
release of Drilon, Encarnacion and Dinampo.
Still other sources earlier said
unidentified negotiators from Manila have made contacts with the Abu
Sayyaf to discuss ransom payment. They added that once ransom is
paid, the kidnappers would make it appear that they freed the
hostages in exchange for government livelihood projects. Their
claims cannot be independently confirmed.
Poor conditions
Despite her ordeal, Drilon said
it is important to understand her captors, saying, many of them live
in misery, but she was quick to condemn the kidnappers.
“What they [Isnaji] promised
[to the kidnappers] is livelihood projects to aid [these people],”
she said.
“I don’t want to justify what
they are doing, because they are bandits. We are cooperating with
the authorities, but we need to understand why they do these things,
there were bandits who are 12 years old and holding a gun already,
and 17 years old and 15 years old and you realize why these children
are armed with these weapons instead of notebooks and pencils. They
should be in school,” Drilon added.
Encarnacion said they were hit
with rifles by the kidnappers, who also threatened to execute them.
“They have repeatedly threatened to behead me. I was really
scared.”
Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan has ordered
an investigation of reports that ransom was paid to the kidnappers.
|
