VP De Castro to ABS-CBN: Let others do the negotiating

MANILA, Philippines - Vice President Noli de Castro on Thursday cautioned his former employer, ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp., against taking into its hands the negotiations for the release of its news anchor Ces Drilon and three others, who were believed to be in the hands of the Abu Sayyaf in Sulu. “Personally, hindi na dapat makialam pa ang ABS-CBN sa negotiations (ABS-CBN should not dip its fingers in the negotiations). They should let the negotiations be handled by the government or by the experts,” De Castro told reporters in a chance interview after Judicial, Executive, Legislative Advisory Consultative Council (Jelacc) meeting. De Castro said the negotiations are more likely to succeed if there are less people involved in it. He also said it would be better if the negotiator would come from Sulu since it is likely that he/she is knowledgeable about the Abu Sayyaf. “Para hindi na magulo ang proseso, dapat magtalaga ng iisa lang na nagosyador (So that the process will be without hitch, we should have only one negotiator),” he said. De Castro was a former news anchor of ABS-CBN and had experienced being temporarily held captive by the Abu Sayyaf, notorious for conducting a series of abductions in the past, including of foreign nationals. In April 2000, De Castro and actor Robin Padilla were held captive by a faction of the Abu Sayyaf in the hinterlands of Basilan while negotiating for the release of kidnapped schoolchildren and teachers. After a few hours, De Castro, then still a television host, and Padilla were released together with two child hostages after giving the bandits 100 sacks of rice. Drilon, along with her cameramen Jimmy Encarnacion and Angelo Valderama, and Mindanao-based professor Octavio Dinampo, were abducted last Sunday in the hinterlands of Maiumbung, Sulu. - GMANews.TV