The end of a quest

At various moments during Kidnap, ABS-CBN's documentary on the kidnapping of Ces Drilon and her two-man crew, the camera is rolling surreptitiously in the kidnappers' lair while armed men hover nearby, one of them looking at the lens as if he suspects what is going on. But none of them ever found out that their faces were being recorded for eventual exposure to the world. Viewers sense that if the kidnappers discovered the secret recording, the cameraman could lose his head. Despite Ces's tears in recounting the ordeal and her readiness to face death, and the stylized re-enactment of the events, the tension of possible discovery of the rolling camera was the real drama in the documentary. Ces Drilon was the star hostage but her fellow abductee, veteran cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion, was the one who never stopped being a journalist, despite being threatened with beheading, as he constantly schemed in his head how to bring back video of what could have been an unfolding tragedy. The few minutes of material that survived along with the three hostages are a testament to a heroic act of journalistic presence of mind, which could easily be called foolhardy today if he was somehow detected. Encarnacion was almost caught, as he tells the anonymous interviewer in Kidnap. His technique for concealing his recordings was to fast-forward the camera, the sound of which was heard by one of the kidnappers. The seasoned videographer played back the tape for the suspicious bad guy and sure enough, the recording was black. (I was just thinking, the next hostaged cameraman may not be able to use that method of concealment anymore.) The videographer's enterprise was all the more remarkable because his camera was a bulky Sony DSR 400 instead of the compact digital cams that are easier to manipulate for stealth. Somehow Jimmy had to move that baby in its sack so that the lens could see out of a hole and aim it at his captors. On top of that, he had to convince them to allow him to bring his camera home with the tape intact when they were released. And these weren't dumb country bumpkins -- they knew enough to entrap a smart journalist and extract millions from her family. I was expecting that some of the kidnappers who appeared in the video would be given some personality, like who was cruel and who said what. But there were no specific references in the bites to anyone in the video, except for a Kumander "Text", seen in a low angle shot texting away. So while the three hostages were fully humanized, the young, newly minted millionaires-to-be were mostly anonymous faces. There was also little mention of Prof. Dinampo, the supposed peace advocate who set up the aborted appointment with Sahiron and whose motivations have since been put under a cloud. Encarnacion's video was the core of a documentary that was skillfully presented without voiceovers, the narrative driven by sound bites from the three hostages, including assistant cameraman Angelo Valderrama who was released before the others after the first ransom payment. But that was after he was forced to kneel and prepare to be beheaded, while Encarnacion was chillingly instructed to record the execution. That never came to pass, as Drilon's family and perhaps other benefactors eventually produced still-untold millions. The production directed by indie filmmaker Paolo Villaluna may strike some media colleagues as being exploitative, but after what they went through, Drilon and company can be cut some slack in presenting their story. The lessons shouldn't be lost on the swash-buckling crowd that loves the Abu Sayyaf beat. Drilon's pursuit of an interview with the one-armed Radullan Sahiron, the supposed new leader of the bandit group, ended up imbuing him with more mystique without him even making an appearance, while creating an opportunity to pump millions in ransom money into what could only be called Jolo's underground economy. If there was any silver lining, the incident prompted some fresh reflections about the safety of journalists, which risks are worth taking, and whether the Abu Sayyaf today can be considered a more significant story than any other notorious bandit group. No journalist of stature has been known to make a similar effort at interviewing, for example, leaders of the Pentagon gang. In the end, Ces and her team did get their story, even if it did focus on them. Jimmy Encarnacion got his video at great risk to his life. Ces said in her interview that her cameraman did it to identify their captors so they couldn't do it to others. But one wonders if the video will eventually be useful for that purpose. Money corrupts in Jolo and anywhere else where kidnapping has been a livelihood since time immemorial. A mayor and his son have been charged with masterminding this one. Previous hostages have pointed at military officers, none of whom have been similarly charged despite some outrageously easy escapes, like that colossal betrayal in Lamitan, Basilan in June 2001. Identifying kidnappers doesn't seem to be the problem, it's corrupt government. Jimmy's video will probably not prevent more kidnappings, since that will now depend on honest law enforcement in a place not known for it. But his covert recordings did bring him glory. Up-and-coming cameramen attempting such a feat in the future may not be so lucky.