Don’t blame ABS-CBN if it paid ransom

By Ramon Tulfo (INQ.net)

Whether or not ABS-CBN paid ransom for Ces Drilon and her two companions no longer matters.
What is important is that Drilon and company were released unharmed by their kidnappers.

ABS-CBN should not be faulted for paying ransom – if it did – despite its avowed policy of not giving in to ransom demands of the abductors.

The biggest broadcast network had to give in to emotions, much like rich parents paying ransom for their kidnapped children.

The argument by “no ransom” advocates is that paying up – if ABS-CBN did pay ransom – for the release of Ces and company would set a precedent for future kidnappings.

But isn’t it ABS-CBN’s job to protect the lives of its kapamilya or family members?

It’s now the task of the government to go after the kidnappers and hale them to court.

If ABS-CBN paid ransom for Ces, cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion and Prof. Octavio Dinampo, it would not be the first time it did to Moro kidnappers for the release of its kapamilya.

A couple of years ago, it paid P7 million to the kidnappers of reporter Maan Macapagal and her cameraman.

If the network hadn’t paid off Maan’s abductors and they killed her, her colleagues in the news bureau and in other divisions would have abandoned the network.

A business concern cannot expect loyalty from its employees if it is not after their welfare and safety.

Loyalty is a two-way street.

ABS-CBN did the best thing under the circumstances, even if it lost face by violating its “strictly no ransom” stand.

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President Gloria is trying to court the sympathy of the masses by giving subsidies to poor families in these critical times.

But what can the masses do when she eventually faces many court suits after she steps down in 2010?

The poor people, who compose the majority of the population, couldn’t do anything when their idol, former President Erap, was ousted from power by the middle class, the intelligentsia and the elite, and eventually charged in court for plunder.

Madame President, are you really sincere in your love for the poor and are you truly concerned about their welfare?

One person I knew who was sincere in his love for the poor was my lawyer and friend, Tomas del Castillo, who passed away two years ago.

Del Castillo, a topnotch lawyer (his law firm is the Inquirer’s legal counsel), defended poor people caught in an oppressive judicial system who were later charged in court.

My defunct public service show, “Isumbong mo kay Tulfo,” referred many of those cases to him.

He gave free legal services to the people and defended them in court.

I asked him why he took time out defending poor litigants.
Tom had a full schedule attending to the libel suits filed against Inquirer editors, columnists (like myself) and reporters, among many other tasks.

His answer: “Mon, every lawyer should give pro bono (free) legal services to the less fortunate on their own initiative.”

Tom said it was a lawyer’s way of sharing his blessings for being in a noble profession.

That’s real love for the poor and less fortunate!

The President’s grant of subsidies to the poor insults our country’s decent poor because it places them in the same category as beggars asking for alms.

Madame President, the best way to help the poor is to put a stop to the extrajudicial killings that mostly victimize the poor, and punish members of the police and military who oppress the poor.