journalist Ces Drilon freed by Abu Sayyaf terrorists

I was greeted with this piece of good news as I woke up this morning. Ces Drilon, together with her cameraman and a professor from Mindanao, were freed by their Abu Sayyaf kidnappers early this morning. After more than a week of captivity, with news of ransom demands and negotiations filling our daily headlines, it's finally over.

Kudos to the negotiators who made this possible, and praise to all those who helped in paving the way for this release. We were all bracing for some bad news as the terrorist-imposed deadline on the ransom passed yesterday. With the government and ABS CBN, Drilon's home network, bent on sticking to their no-ransom policy, many were thinking of the inevitable.

However, we were relieved to hear of an extension of the deadline and the subsequent breakthrough in the negotiations purportedly initiated by the military last night. Though it was premature to assume the end of this drama, many knew it was just a matter of time before the good news of their release would be out.

And that's what greeted me this morning on the radio as I was having breakfast. Vidoes of their release were later flashed on different news reports on TV a little later. However, as I watched the coverage, I saw a perennial thorn on the scene. A politician eager to gain much-needed mileage for her presidential campaign in 2010 was all over the place, sashaying in front of the cameras for all the world to see. Yup, you guessed it. Loren Legarda, "The Ambitious One", was there and it almost ruined my day! I guess I have to face the fact that, with elections in this country less than two years away, more of the same will be seen.

To Ces Drilon and her former co-captors, welcome back, but be careful next time. And to the Abu Sayyaf, f**k you! I hope an epidemic hits that area and selectively wipe out your kind! You deserve it!

Update (06/19/2008): It looks like a ransom was paid. Despite denials from authorities, the media is slowly uncovering how money from the "kidnappers' families" was delivered to the rebels a few hours before the release. Of course we know where that money came from. I don't think it came from the victims' families but from network giant ABS CBN who dispatched the journalists to the terrorist-infested jungle for a news story. I am sure the families of the victims cannot afford the millions the Abus were asking for.

And did you see the news earlier today? It seems that a mysterious bag was delivered to Sulu by a chartered plane earlier in the day. Now who could afford to charter a plane? If all these speculations presently going around are true, then "The Ambitious One" didn't act as negotiator. Rather, she was the haggler! He he.

And one more thing. Did you smell it or was it just me who sensed that the big, influential network seems to be throwing its support for "the Ambitious One" in the coming elections. They just couldn't stop mentioning her name at every chance they get, whether in news reports, press conferences and official bulletins. Sound like early campaign spiels to me, sending a clear message to another presidential hopeful, VP Noli de Castro. What do you think?

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