Kidnappers all around the Philippines are probably rejoicing and planning on who they will abduct next. Why? Because we paid MILLIONS of pesos for the release of Ces Drilon and her crew. That’s the problem with situations like this – it’s a damned if you do, damned if you don’t moment. The good part is that Ces Drilon and her crew were able to get out of that hell hole and they will live on to see their family and friends. That bad side is that we’ve just given a green light for potential terrorists to seriously think about kidnapping as a career since it pays pretty well. Here’s an excerpt from the Inquirer article on this particular issue.
MANILA, Philippines–It’s not just P5 million.
Documents from the Philippine National Police obtained by the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Friday bolstered reports that, indeed, another batch of money was paid for the freedom of ABS-CBN senior reporter Ces Drilon, cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion and Prof. Octavio Dinampo.
According to an affidavit of Supt. Winnie Quidato, at around 4 o’clock in the afternoon of June 17, Quidato received a phone call from Haider Isnaji, son of Indanan Mayor Alvarez Isnaji, informing him that Atty. Nasser Ynawat, a Sulu board member, already had a second batch of ransom money but that it was being intercepted by Sulu police commander Sr. Supt. Julasirim Kasim.
“Jun [Haider's nickname] suggested to me that as representative of the DILG, I must intercede, otherwise something bad might happen to the victims,” Quidato said.
Quidato, it was later revealed, posed as a civilian from the Department of Interior and Local Government sent to Sulu to coordinate the negotiations.
Quidato said he “berated” Jun for conducting “secret negotiations” related to the payment of ransom money.
Quidato said he informed the PNP Intelligence Group head, Chief Supt. Rolando Anonuevo, of the developments. Anonuevo said he would coordinate with Kasim.
Quidato then proceeded to the Sulu provincial police headquarters, where he met Ynawat and Mayor Isnaji. Isnaji introduced Ynawat to Quidato as his [the mayor's] lawyer.
The undetermined amount of money was then turned over by Kasim to Isnaji and Ynawat, after which they all proceeded to the residence of Khan Isnaji, a son of the mayor.
“The ransom money was delivered by Jun on the evening of June 17, 2008, escorted by the undersigned, the security escorts of Mayor Isnaji and the members of the Sulu police,” Quidato said in his affidavit.
So what now? Ultimately it’s up to the government and the AFP to impress on the entire world that we don’t tolerate acts like this. It will be interesting to see how the GMA Administration will handle this very delicate situation.
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Tags: ABS CBN, Ces Drilon Abduction, Media
Situations like these really demand a tough decision.
You’re right, damn if you do, damn if you don’t.
All we can do now is to just be careful on our part.