(RSF/IFEX) – RSF expressed great concern after receiving confirmation that journalist Arlyn de la Cruz was kidnapped by bandits three months ago. RSF called on the kidnappers to release her at once. Moreover, the organisation urged the government to find her and negotiate her release. De la Cruz, a reporter for the daily “Inquirer” and […]
(RSF/IFEX) – RSF expressed great concern after receiving confirmation that journalist Arlyn de la Cruz was kidnapped by bandits three months ago. RSF called on the kidnappers to release her at once. Moreover, the organisation urged the government to find her and negotiate her release. De la Cruz, a reporter for the daily “Inquirer” and the private television station Net25, is known for her reports on the Islamic guerilla group Abu Sayyaf.
According to information collected by RSF, on 8 April 2002, the “Inquirer” newspaper published a handwritten letter from de la Cruz, in which she confirmed having been kidnapped in January by armed rebels on the southern island of Jolo. De la Cruz was last seen on 19 January at the Orchid Garden hotel in Zamboanga, in southwestern Mindanao. Since then, a number of rumours have circulated about her disappearance. Some said that she was in the jungle with Abu Sayyaf guerrillas, while others suggested she had invented her kidnapping to bolster her public image.
The authorities began looking for de la Cruz in February. The official version of her disappearance was that Abu Sayyaf guerrillas kidnapped her in a dispute over money. Her two employers confirmed they received phone calls, mainly in February, from someone who claimed to be de la Cruz.
Her recent letter states she was kidnapped on Jolo island by guerillas from the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), who killed her guide, an Abu Sayyaf guerrilla. After discovering that she was not carrying the ransom demanded by the Abu Sayyaf guerillas in exchange for freeing American hostages, the bandits stripped her and hit her, the letter stated. She was threatened with execution for over two weeks and then handed over to another armed group, which at first demanded a ransom of more than 40 million pesos (approx. US$785,000; 890,000 euros) before reducing the amount to 11 million pesos (approx. US$216,000; 244,000 euros). She said in the letter she was afraid she would be killed and asked Filipino journalists to help her.
De la Cruz, who has two children, is well-known for having interviewed Abu Sayyaf leaders on several occasions. In May 2000, she filmed the last two American hostages being held by the guerrillas. Many journalists have criticised her for being too close to Abu Sayyaf and seeking stories at any cost. In her letter, she told her fellow journalists: “You have judged me, accused me and crucified me. But I don’t blame you. I understand the industry, and I do realise your coverage is based on a limited perspective on the story.”
