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Release
June 20, 2008
INSI Welcomes Release of TV Crew in Philippines Kidnapping and Calls for Freedom of Colombian Journalist
The International News Safety Institute welcomes with profound relief the safe release of the ABS-CBN news crew in Sulu, the Philippines after being held kidnapped for nine days by the Aby Sayyaf Group.
Speaking at a news conference after they were released, journalist Ces Drilon said their abductors had treated them well, but "in a perverse kind of way". They arrived back in Manila on 18 June after their ordeal and are undergoing medical check-ups.
After nine days in captivity, Drilon, her cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion and university professor Ocatavio Dinampo were freed by suspected Abu Sayyaf militants shortly before midnight on Tuesday in Sulu. Visibly tired and covered with mosquito bites, Drilon thanked government negotiators who worked for their release.
The kidnappers had earlier threatened to behead Encarnacion if their demand of US$340,000 was not met. But the government insisted that no ransom money was paid for the release of the hostages. Government negotiators admitted though that they had to pay the kidnappers "board and lodging fees". The same amount was paid last week in exchange for the release of assistant cameraman, Angelo Valderama.
"Board and lodging fees" is a euphemism that the Abu Sayyaf use to refer to ransom money.
The Abu Sayyaf have kidnapped at least 20 journalists since 2000. The National Union of Journalists in the Philippines said this latest abduction should serve as a wake-up call for journalists that no story is worth dying for.
Meanwhile, it has come to INSI's attention that a Colombian journalist is being held hostage by the National Liberation Army (ELN) since 17 February 2008. INSI calls for the immediate unconditional safe release of Mario Alfonso Puello.
INSI expressed its alarm over the kidnapping and is aware of the national military's presence in the area where the journalist and two other hostages are being held and called on both the ELN and the military to respect the lives and safety of the journalists and for the hostage takers to respect the freedom of the press and the right to information for all.
INSI appealed to editors to do more to prepare journalists to face the different risks, including kidnapping, while reporting dangerous stories and listed the following countries where there is a heightened risk of kidnapping for journalists, including Iraq, Palestinian Territories, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Mexico, Colombia, the Philippines, Russia and Somalia.
INSI counts more than 1,200 journalists and other news media staff who have died trying to cover the news around he world over the past 10 years. The vast majority were local journalists working in peacetime in their own countries, murdered by criminal elements trying to silence free and open reporting.
For Further information: Sarah de Jong, Deputy Director, +32 2 235 22
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