H.E. Joseph Estrada
President
Manila
Republic of the Philippines
Vienna, 10 July 2000
Your Excellency,
The International Press Institute (IPI), the global network of editors and journalists, strongly condemns the abduction of three French TV journalists on the southern Philippine island of Jolo.
According to IPI’s information, the three journalists were abducted on 9 July and spotted the next day at a hideout of the Muslim extremist guerrilla organisation, Abu Sayyaf, on Jolo island. The journalists, identified as Maryse Burgot, Jean-Jacques Le Garrec, and Roland Madura, all with France-2 television network, were seen in a camp belonging to Galib Andang, an Abu Sayyaf leader. Andang is believed to be the chief culprit behind the 12-week hostage crisis which began on 23 April with the abduction of 20 people, mostly foreign tourists, from a Malaysian resort off Borneo island. The journalists had reportedly arranged to interview Galib Andang and his hostages when they were detained by the rebels.
These kidnappings are only the latest in a series that have seen more than 30 people abducted. On 2 July, German journalist Andreas Lorenz, a correspondent with Der Spiegel, was kidnapped at gunpoint by four men while making his way to the rebel hideout to cover the abductions. Last month, the Abu Sayyaf also held 10 foreign journalists working for German news agencies, releasing them after they paid 25,000 dollars.
IPI urges your Excellency to do everything in your power to ensure the safe return of the abducted hostages. We further urge that all possible steps are taken to ensure the safety of journalists covering events in the Philippines.
We thank you for your attention.
Yours sincerely,
Johann P. Fritz
Director