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Efforts under way to find Philippine TV team believed taken by suspected rebels

All efforts are under way to find three members of a Manila television team missing in the southern Philippines, the journalists’ TV network said yesterday.

Police said ABS-CBN senior reporter and news anchor Ces Drilon and her two cameramen were believed to have been abducted by al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf militants while pursuing a story on volatile Jolo island.

But the network’s official statement said only that journalists Drilon, Jimmy Encarnacion and Angelo Valderama “are missing in Sulu” Province, and that “all efforts are under way to find them and bring them home.”

“Until we learn more details, ABS-CBN News request other media to report this matter with utmost consideration for the safety of our news team,” the statement said.

Security forces were searching for the journalists and a provincial crisis management committee headed by Sulu Governor Sakur Tan has sent feelers to negotiate with their abductors, said Chief Superintendent Joel Goltiao, the regional police chief.

He said he was unaware of any ransom demand.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists condemned the journalists’ abduction.

“We are deeply concerned for the safety of these three journalists,” said Bob Dietz, CPJ’s Asia program coordinator. “It is great cause for concern that this volatile southern region of the Philippines remains insecure for the press, and we call on local authorities to work diligently to secure their safe and swift release.”
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