They kept asking about ransom, TV journalist recalls

by jayr_patron | June 10, 2008 at 09:41 pm

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The Philippines lay claim to the number two spot in the deadliest places for journalist rundown...next to Iraq which has been torn by war and civil unrest.

This article comes straight from a veteran journalist who has been kidnapped and held captive for three months...only to realize that there was more to journalism than getting first at the latest scoop and delivering it to the public. Arlyn de la Cruz's experience gives merit to the colorful, albeit perilous, journalism practice in the Philippines.

They say no story is worth dying for—yet journalists can sometimes be lured to real dangers that can cost us our lives. We can be very trusting, perhaps because we expect to be trusted in return.

In a place like Sulu, journalists come mainly for stories arising from its long history of war and violence.

Sulu gave me my first exclusives in the world of Moro rebels, setting me off on a journalistic career now spanning almost two decades.