kidnapped, Ces Oreña-Drilon – Page 2

Breaking news: DZMM reported that Ces Oreña-Drilon and cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion have been released in Talipao, Sulu this 11:00 pm June 17.

(Photo by TOWNS, The Outstanding Women in the Nation’s Service; cropped and background-painted by blog admin)

Quote “Official statement from ABS-CBN on release of Ces, et al:

Quote “Ces, Jimmy, and Angelo are finally all free. We cannot wait to bring them home to their families and to ABS-CBN. We are thankful that our prayers have been answered and our efforts rewarded.

Quote “We thank everyone who helped secure the release of Ces, Jimmy, and Angelo. We received a great outpouring of support from people all over the world who care for freedom. Their words of comfort and prayers guided and strengthened us throughout this ordeal.

Quote “There are people who gave us timely and valuable advice as we grappled with ways to secure the release of Ces, Jimmy, and Angelo. They wish to remain anonymous, but they know how eternally grateful we are to all of them.

Quote “Above all, the release of Ces, Jimmy, and Angelo could not have been possible without the cooperation of the people of Sulu and their local government. We thank them and share their hope for enduring peace in Mindanao.” Closed-quote

This is a satellite image of Jolo town, Sulu, Mindanao, Philippines. You can close the dialog box (balloon) superimposed on the image by clicking the small X at the right-hand corner of the dialog box/ balloon. The portion marked “A” is Jolo town, where they went missing or where the assistant cameraman Angelo Valderama surfaced and where presumably Ces Oreña-Drilon & team are. If they’ve been walking 20 kilometers a day, for eight days non-stop, that’d be 160 kilometers. Since we don’t know which direction they were walking (well, the witnesses know), that’d be a radius (of 160 kms) from where they were last seen. I don’t know.

I wanted to show you a zoomed-in version too but you’ll have to click the + symbol or plus symbol on the upper left-hand corner of the image yourself, it zooms in; you can zoom in to as close as several kilometers above the ground. To zoom out, click the – sign or minus sign also on the upper left-hand corner. You can also pan across the image by clicking any of the arrows on the left-hand corner.

About the Howitzers that were fired at 3:00 am Sunday, the AFP said that they were bombing a known Abu Sayyaf lair and that it had nothing to do with the captors of Ces and her team as, according to the AFP’s Task Force Comet, it was an area 25 kilometers from where Ces and her team was. They’re tantalizingly brilliant, aren’t they? The executive secretary of the Sulu mayor pointed out however that the shelling of Task Force Comet hit the coastal town of Sinunugan, Indanan, displacing 200 families and wounding five civilians (www.inquirer.net ). The mediator Mayor Isnaji also said it resulted in the ultimatum of 12:00 noon today. (www.inquirer.net ) I hope the crisis committee, composed mainly of local officials, can show its leadership and bring this problem to a happy ending by bringing Ces and her team back home.