Journalist-director Arlyn Dela Cruz dies

Journalist filmmaker Arlyn Dela Cruz has died after battling colon cancer, her children said Monday.

"Earlier today, our mother passed away after six years of battling colon cancer,"  Katrina Greta and Dominique Dela Cruz wrote in a Facebook post.

According to her children, Dela Cruz was not only able to serve in the media industry but also wrote and directed several movies as well as arranged two art exhibits.

"The disease did not conquer her zest for life and adventure; and she approached every new day armed with her razor-sharp wit and creativity," the siblings also said.

Dela Cruz's children said they are still finalizing the details of the wake.

Based on movie database IMDB.com, Dela Cruz directed films such as "Maratabat," "Tibak," "Pusit," and "Immaculada, Mother's Love."

Dela Cruz was also a television reporter for Net 25 and was a news director for Radyo Inquirer.

In 2002, Dela Cruz was held hostage in Jolo, Sulu for more than 100 days after intending to interview members of the Aby Sayyaf guerrilla group.

In her LinkedIn profile, Dela Cruz also served as a correspondent in Philippine Daily Inquirer and was  a former news bureau chief as well as field anchor in ABS-CBN. 

Reporters Without Borders said she became well-known for pursuing stories involving Abu Sayyaf leaders at all costs. In 2000, she was able to take a video of two American hostages abducted by guerrillas.—Consuelo Marquez/LDF, GMA News