Reporter, cameraman disappear in Sulu

A television reporter and his cameraman were reported missing after venturing into a rebel-infested town on the southern Philippine island of Sulu, police and military reports said.

The reports said Carlos Lorenzo, 25, and cameraman Gilberto Buyco, 34, of television network GMA-7, went to Indanan town to interview Muslim rebels holding three Indonesian hostages on Saturday, but both failed to return to their hotel room in downtown Jolo, Sulu's capital.

A source from the hotel where they were staying said Amil Paradji, the driver the duo hired, returned yesterday to Jolo and was questioned by the police about the disappearance of the two men.

Lorenzo and Buyco went to Sulu two weeks ago to cover the military offensive against the Abu Sayyaf rebels. Police declined to give details of the case, but a report listed the duo as missing.

Other reports said Lorenzo and Marid were accompanied by a local guide, Hajja Ling Imran, said to be one of those negotiating for the release of three kidnapped Indonesian tugboat crew members on Sulu island.

Apart from the trio, a separate band of kidnappers on the island are also holding four Filipino women abducted last month in Patikul town.

The source noted that the reporter and the cameraman had gone to see Khaid Ajibun, a leader of the renegade faction of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), in the village of Umbul Kurah, a known lair of guerrillas, in Indanan town, where their driver left the duo.

The renegade faction of the MNLF, which is loyal to their former chairman, Nur Misuari, has been fighting the government.

Sulu army commander Col. Alexander Aleo said they are still verifying the police reports. "We don't know yet if they are really missing or abducted or in news coverage, but there have been a lot or rumours here about their disappearance."

He said: "I have ordered the military to search for them because the situation in Sulu is dangerous now."

The military earlier warned reporters not to go to the towns of Indanan, Patikul and Talipao where security forces have been fighting Abu Sayyaf and MNLF rebels since last week.

"We have warned reporters about the dangerous situation in Sulu, but we were ignored," Col. Aleo added.

Guerrillas have kidnapped in the past local and foreign journalists in Sulu and freed them after ransom was paid.

In Manila, the GMA-7 headquarters confirmed that the two men were missing. An executive of the network said Lorenzo and Buyco did not coordinate with their office their plans for Saturday. The network refused to give further details.

Local and foreign media have been requested by the network not to publicise the issue, citing the possibility that the duo may have just encountered unexpected problems on their way to their supposed coverage.

Two years ago, news reporter Maan Macapagal and cameraman Val Cuenco were held hostage by a bandit group in the jungles of Sulu before they were freed after two weeks, reportedly after their network, ABS-CBN, paid ransom to their hostage takers.