In parts 1 and 2 I touched upon the inherent risks journalists face when covering insurgent organizations. In the Southern Philippines, the story of an intrepid journalist trying to scoop his or her competitors with an interview of ASG, or Abu Sayyaf Group figures is an old one. Likewise, so is the story about said reporter thinking that that are above the fray, only to find themselves targetted by subjects that they planned on interviewing.
Although I used the example of Ces Drillon, I could just as easily picked one of literally dozens of names. I could have picked self serving media hack Arlyn de la Cruz, abducted in 2002. When not writing about Abu Sayaff for the Manila based "Inquirer," de la Cruz was engaged in a sexual relationship with the ASG's Khadaffy Janjalani. Such "familiarity" should have immunized Ms. de la Cruz from most-if not all damages...right?
I could have chosen Val Cuenca and Maan Macapagal in July of 2000. Indeed, the two were colleagues of Ms. Drilon at ABS-CBN and yet neither Arlyn de la Cruz OR Cuenca and Macapagal's experiences did anything to make Ms.Drilon step back from the abyss. If Phiippine journalists act like imbeciles, how can anyone really disparage an empty headed foreigner for making that same mistake? Whether it is the ten European journalists who thought they were getting the scoop of a lifetime when offered a chance to interview the abductors in the Sipidan Dive Resort KFR and ended up on the menu themselves..or...Andreas Lorenz of Germany's "Der Spiegel," who in 2000 begged to be kidnapped (literrally) only one month after being held with another group of foreign journalists for twelve hours, foreigners are even more likely to be victimized since their employers almost always carry seven figure KFR Insurance.
Which brings me, finally, to the case de jour, that of Jordanian citizen, Baker Abdullah Atyani. Atyani, Southeast Asia Bureau Chief for Dubai based Al Arabiya network is fairly well known to people such as myself. His claim to fame is one of those journalistic scoops that almost defy imagination. In June of 2001, while serving as Pakistan Bureau Chief, Atyani crossed the border into Afghanistan and travelled to the city of Khandahar. In Khandahar Mr.Atyani interviewed two men whose names were relatively unknown at the time, Osama bin Laden and Dr.Ayman al Zawahiri. Atyano claimed that during the unfilmed interview with the number one and number two (respectively)in al Qadah, both men dropped hints about 9/11.
Since that fateful interview, and the years of mileage Atyani generated out of it, the journalist has remolded himself into am authority on Islamic Terrorism. In fact, he has been to the Southern Philippines on a number of occasions and reportedly has extensive contacts within the ASG.
On June 11th, 2012, Baker Atyani and his local production crew arrived in Jolo City on a commercial flight. As is often the case, he was singled out by AFP Marines at the airport owing to his decidedly foreign appearance. Quickly brought to the Sulu Provincial Capital in the municipality of Patikul where he was subjected to the requisite arrival interview that all foreigners must endure in Sulu Province. As luck would have it, Governor Abdusakur "Sakur" Tan was in the building (basically, outside his armored vehicles it is the safest place for him to be) and so Atyani and his crew were quickly ushered into the Governor's inner sanctum and granted an interview.
Probably gritting his teeth as he wasted time discussing foreign aid and pork barrel nonsense (you know, I never thpught to ask whether politicians in Muslim Mindanao call pork barrel spending by some other moniker...maybe lamb?), Atyani lied when asked about his local itinerary, saying that he intended to cover the next day's Independence Day festivities in Jolo City. Instead, Atyani and his crew planned to interview local ASG members in an envisioned television documentary on Jihad in the Philippines. It is absolutely understandable then, that Atyani begged off when Govetnor Tan attempted to saddle with him with an AFP security detail.
Returning to Jolo City, Atyani and his two men crew checked into Jolo City's Sulu State College Hostel, on Martinez Street-co-incidentally, the very same hostel where Ces Drilon and her two man crew had checked into on their fated 2008 sojourn to Jolo. At 545AM the next day, June 12th, Atyani and his crew were seen entering a white multicab in front of the hostel. Aside from the driver, a woman was sitting in the passenger seat. Having told the desk clerk that they would be returning that same afternoon, Baker Abdullah Atyani, Ramelito Vela, and Rolando Letero drove off and disappeared.
Because of their mentioning a same day return the hostel staff naturally got nervous when, by the following day-June 13th, the three men failed to return OR contact the hostel. However, a peek into the two rooms the group had rented showed that they had neglected to take with them any of their personal belongings above and beyond their camera equipment, the staff decided to take a "wait and see" approach. By June 13th it became clear that something was wrong. Skittish hostel staff finally reported the failure of a foreign guest to return to their room for nearly two days. Elsewhere in the world perhaps, such things do not even deserve notice but in Jolo City, it almost certainly serves as a terrible omen.
The CPO, or City Police Office immediately notified PPO-Sulu, or the Police Provincial Office for Sulu Province and so the dominoes fell in short order, ending up with a messy pile in Manila. Interestingly, Government officials, usually very circumspect in KFRs, or Kidnap for Ransoms involving foreign nationals, went immediately for the jugular, accusing Atyani, in turns, of faking his own abduction-exactly the Government's tact in the Arlyn de la Cruz KFR...denied that Atyani had even been abducted at all since he got into the multicap outside his hostel by his own accord-a ploy the.Government used in the Ces Drilon KFR...threatened to have the BI, or Bureau of Immigration revoke Atyani's visa status and declare Atyani persona non grata-exactly what the Government did with Toshio Ito, alias Ameer Mamaito Katayama, whom the Government has also accused of having joined ASG simply because Ito is able.to move around ASG encampments unfettered at least part of the time*-another ploy used against Atyani.
When the Jordanian Government refused to stand for such nonsense all the Governmental shills who had been furiously pointing their fingers suddenly beckpedaled furiously.
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