Faces of Ces Drilon nine days after her freedom from Abu Sayyaf captors. The award-winning ABS-CBN broadcast journalist was freed before midnight Tuesday in the hinterlands of the town of Indanan, Sulu.Ces Oreña-Drilon, the ABS-CBN broadcast journalist kidnapped along with her two TV news crew and a university professor in Sulu on June 8, was freed late Tuesday evening after ten days in captivity in the hinterlands of the troubled island province.
In an interview at a tightly guarded La Vista Del Mar in Zamboanga City, Drilon briefly talked about her 10 day ordeal with kidnappers, saying that she and her cameramen were betrayed and that was the caused for their abduction in Indanan town.
"I've been in and out of Mindanao…all my years are journalism…gusto ko lang maintindihan iyong situasyon dito, gumawa ng istorya tungkol dito. Sa kasawiang palad medyo, there were some betrayal involved kaya kami na-kidnap," she said.
Asked by fellow journalists on how they were treated by their captors while in captivity, Drilon said they were tied at some point and were threatened to be beheaded and at one time she was slapped while talking to Senator Loren Legarda.
"But other than that I could say we were generally treated well in a perverse kind of way," she added.
Drilon had publicly thanked Senator Legarda, whom she described as their lifeline and who worked for unconditional release, and also Mayor Isnaji, his son Haider for their efforts which paved the way for their safe release.
"I thank so much Senator Legarda…we were together in ABS-CBN at a time where there was no one or everybody I could reach at one point in our captivity and Loren was a lifeline to us," she said.
"I would like to mention also Mayor Isnaji and his son Jun…they were also in great help in getting our freedom. At sa mga kasamahan ko sa media…alam kong nag-dasal kayo para makalaya kami at siyempre sa kapamilya ABS-CBN sa sakit ng ulo ng ibinigay ko…pasensiya na…I mean it's overwhelming iyong suporta para sa amin hindi ko inakala."
The award winning broadcast journalist Ms. Drilon and her companions, including Jimmy Encarnacion and Prof. Octavio Dinampo of Mindanao State University were freed by their abductors to government negotiators at around 11:53 p.m.
Tuesday in the hinterlands of Indanan town. The Abu Sayyaf last week freed Drilon's cameraman Angelo Valderama after negotiators reportedly paid P100,000 "board and lodging." But it was not known whether a ransom was paid or not.
The kidnappers had earlier demanded P15 million in exchange for the victims' release. Drilon's group was seized June 8 in the town of Maimbung while on their way to meet with an Abu Sayyaf terror leader Radulan Sahiron, whose group is believed to be holding the hostages.
Aside from Sahiron, military and police also tagged Albader Parad, Gafur Jumdail and Umbra Jumdail as involved in the kidnappings along with two others Walid alias Tuan Walis and Sulayman Patta.
The United States government listed the Abu Sayyaf as a foreign terrorist organization and has offered rewards of up to $5 million for the capture of its known leaders.
National Police Director General Avelino Razon Jr. told a press conference at La Vista del Mar in Zamboanga City yesterday that Isnaji is not yet a suspect.
He, however, confirmed that the mayor and his son were flown to Manila for debriefing. He added that the PNP has started collating results of the debriefing conducted on Drilon's crew and professor Octavio Dinampo to get the "big picture" of the latest terrorist abduction in Mindanao.
"That is what we are determining from the debriefing. We will integrate all these reports. Merge them and get the bigger picture of what really happened," Razon said.
He also confirmed Drilon's statement that there was a betrayal prior to the abduction.
According to Razon, police investigators have finished debriefing the four kidnap victims, who were separately interviewed by the probers.
The police official clarified that Dinampo was never treated as a suspect. "Siya ay kasama sa mga victims," he said.
When asked if Isnaji and his son are being treated as suspects, Razon said "not at this point in time. The Isnajis are also going through the same debriefing process in Manila.'
Razon announced that even as probers have yet to determine the identities of the abductors, members of the military's Task Force Comet and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao police have launched pursuit operations against the suspects.
The police chief said the abductors are Abu Sayyaf members. He added that the two suspects -- Sulayman Patta alias Abu Harris and Walid alias Tuan Wals – are members of the bandit group.
A P500,000 reward each for the two identified suspects have been offered by the PNP. Razon said the pieces of evidence and the results of the debriefing on the victims will be used by policemen to identify and arrest the abductors.
The PNP had earlier announced that kidnapping charges were being readied against Patta and Sulayman and several John Does. HG
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