MANILA - Cecilia “Ces” Drilon’s captors extended yesterday a deadline for a ransom payment to free the TV news anchor, her cameraman and a university professor, and said they were willing to reopen negotiations on the hostages’ release.
The kidnappers, whom police have identified as Abu Sayyaf militants, earlier set the deadline at noon yesterday for a P15 million ransom. They had also threatened to behead the hostages two hours later if the ransom was not paid.
One of the negotiators, Haider “Jun” Alvarez, said the kidnappers did not set a new deadline, but agreed to continue talks. He has been negotiating with the kidnappers with his father, Isnaji Alvarez, mayor of Sulu Province’s Indanan township.
The younger Alvarez said he had been on the phone with the kidnappers around six times beginning with their first call at 6:15 a.m. yesterday.
“I said, ‘Maybe you can come up with some proposals besides the money ... because if you insist on the money we cannot deliver on that,’” he said. “We have come up with a new idea that we will provide them with something else.”
Police Director General Avelino Razon Jr. said the military and police had contingency plans for the hostages, but they would let the negotiators take the lead.
“Ground troops are in place, including air and naval assets,” said Razon, who was also quoted last night as saying that Drilon’s release was “hours away.”
Razon flew to Zamboanga City yesterday for a “readiness check of standby support units” in preparation for the release or other developments in the hostages’ ordeal.
Alvarez, for his part, also spoke with Drilon, who said she was doing “okay” and asked people to pray for her.
“We agreed that they should not hurt the hostages while the negotiations are going on,” the younger Alvarez said. “They have dropped the set deadline so we can reopen the negotiations.”
Last Monday, police said they identified two of the Abu Sayyaf militants holding the hostages and announced a P500,000 reward for each of them.
Chief Supt. Sukarno G. Ikbala Sr. told a news conference that Sulayman Patta, who goes by the aliases Amah Ma’as and Abu Haris, and a man named Walid, alias Tuan
Wais, have been identified as among the kidnappers.
Drilon, 46, her cameramen Jimmy Encar-nacion and Angelo Valde-rama, and Mindanao State University professor Octavio Dinampo were kidnapped last June 8 in Jolo by gunmen believed to be Abu Sayyaf members.
Valderama was released last Thursday after the kidnappers were paid a “minimal amount” of P100,000 for the hostages’ food expenses.
The group was heading for a secret meeting in Jolo with a senior Abu Sayyaf leader when they were seized.
President Arroyo has ordered police and soldiers to recover the hostages alive, and military reinforcements arrived in the area last Sunday.
The Abu Sayyaf, a small group of militants founded with money provided by Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden in the early 1990s, have been blamed for the country’s worst terrorist attacks as well as for kidnappings of tourists and Christian missionaries.
In the past, the group has beheaded its captives when ransom was not paid on time. (AP/AFP)
