MSU Professor Also Abducted With Ces Drilon

Written on Tuesday, June 10th, 2008 at 8:47 am | by Ding G. Gagelonia

The story has now grown bigger with a non-governmental group saying the Mindanao State University professor earlier said to have “invited”journalist Ces Drilon to “cover an event” in Mainbung, Sulu” has actually been abducted along with the TV news team of ABC-CBN.

The report posted minutes ago on the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s on line edition says, in full:

Mindanao group condemns kidnapping

INQUIRER.net
Posted date: June 10, 2008

The Mindanao Peoples Caucus issued a statement early Tuesday morning condemning “the abduction of our chairman, Professor Octavio Dinampo” along with the television journalist Ces Drilon of ABS-CBN and her crew, and appealed “to their abductors to immediately release them unconditionally.”The group described Dinampo as “a credible and well-respected leader from Sulu and a leading peace advocate in Mindanao” who “has been at the forefront of peace advocacy, good governance and relief and rehabilitation efforts in the conflict affected areas in Mindanao.”

Dinampo is a convener of the group Bantay Ceasefire and “has served as the link of Sulu to the outside world, having developed good relations among civil society and the donor community in rehabilitating the war-ravaged communities in Sulu,” it added.

The statement added: “We appeal to the law enforcers and the military to exhaust all peaceful and traditional methods of negotiation in working out the release of the kidnap victims. We also call on our religious leaders from both the Christian and Muslim faiths to extend whatever possible support. Let this crisis see the strength of our solidarity and dialogue as brothers and sisters in Mindanao.

“We wish to extend our prayers and support to the families and loved ones of the kidnap victims. Rest assured that Mindanao Peoples Caucus will mobilize its Bantay Ceasefire volunteers, peace networks and allies especially among the grassroots to reclaim the freedom of our Chairman Prof. Octa, Ces Drilon and her companions. Finally, we all join our hands and ask God, Allah and Magbabaya to bless and grant our prayers.”

Ces Drilon’s mother network is understandably keeping mum about the still unclear circumstances and is only saying Drilon and her 2-man crew are “missing.”

The writer has now just confirmed that the last reported location of the victims, at the foothills of Mt. Tumatangis, is already in the municipality of Patikul, Sulu an area that is heavily forested with underground caves

My source, a journalist who has had the rare experience on staying inside an Abu Sayyaf camp, told this author the Islamist bandits, as the military describes them, regularly move from place to place in the forests of Sulu and Basilan to avoid detection.

Meanwhile a new report from the Cebu SunStar just this noon says “the MILF, in confirming Drilon’s abduction, reported that the television reporter’s group was kidnapped by an Abu Sayyaf sub-leader, a certain Gafur Gumbahali.

Gafur, the report added, is the brother of dreaded Abu Sayyaf leader Dr. Abu Jumdail Gumbahali.

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About The Author: Ding G. Gagelonia is a journalist of some 30 years, having worked in both radio and TV news and public affairs since his teens. Ding Gagelonia now writes independently and does corporate communications consulting. He has two kids, Felice and Luis. His journalist blog is at midfield.wordpress.com

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One Response to “MSU Professor Also Abducted With Ces Drilon”

  1. Ces Drilon, TV reporter and Broadcast Crew Kidnapped In Sulu Philippines : Homeland Security National Terror Alert - Homeland Security News on June 10th, 2008 10:50 am

    […] MSU Professor Also Abducted With Ces Drilon The story has now grown bigger with a non-governmental group saying the Mindanao State University professor earlier said to have “invited”journalist Ces Drilon to “cover an event” in Mainbung, Sulu” has actually been abducted along with … […]

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