Minda peace group: Prof Dinampo is kidnap victim like Ces Drilon

MANILA, Philippines - The Mindanao PeaceWeavers (MPW) on Tuesday lashed out against a Philippine National Police official who was quoted saying that university professor Octavio Dinampo could be part of the group kidnappers which abducted TV journalist Ces Drilon and her companions. In a statement, the MPW said that it was "deeply saddened" by the abduction Dinampo - one of their conveners - Drilon and her two cameramen, Jimmy Encarnacion and Angelo Valderama, in Kulasi, Maimbung, Sulu last Monday. In the same statement, the group took the opportunity to express its "aversion over an insinuation" by the police that Prof. Octa could be "part of the kidnappers. "Media reports attributed this statement to Chief Supt. Joel Goltiao, police regional director for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao: "As of now, we cannot determine his (Dinampo) role, if he is a part of the kidnappers or he was also a victim," the group said. "This statement of the highest ranking police officer in the autonomous region does not only undermine the already precarious security of Prof. Octa but also casts aspersion on the entire peace movement in Mindanao. We condemn this in no uncertain terms," the group added. MPW explained that Dinampo is the current Chair of the Mindanao Peoples Caucus (MPC), a network member of the MPW. It said that the professor has always been in the forefront of peace activities in Jolo and has lent his prestige and quiet, tireless work to the entire peacebuilding movement in Mindanao. As an MPW co-convener, Dinampo also participated in a recent regional conference on the impact of Counter Terrorism Measures on the work of civil society held in Davao City. He may now be an ironic victim of those measures. "We abhor this apparent allusion that Prof. Octa is "part of the kidnappers"—a not-so-veiled hint that we believe is deliberately being spread with the persistent unconfirmed reports attempting to impress upon the public that the co-convener of MPW had already been freed by their abductors while the journalists he helped remain in the hands of their captors,"the group said. Since Tuesday afternoon, MPW said that its partners in Jolo were told by men identified with the intelligence community that Prof. Octa had already been released without Drilon and her crew. "Some media reports also identified Drilon, Encarnacion and Valderama as the only victims of the kidnapping. We are very concerned that some of our friends in media have fallen for the line that Drilon, Encarnacion and Valderama are the only ones kidnapped, reinforcing the PNP's insinuation that Prof. Octa could be "part of the kidnappers,"MPW lamented. "Prof. Octa couldn't be declared missing in his own home province, unless he is being held against his will. He is clearly a kidnap-victim. MPW vouches for Prof. Octa and stands by him unrelentingly. We call on all concerned to join our efforts in getting Prof Octa and all his fellow victims released safely the soonest possible time,"the group ended. - GMANews.TV