Kidnapped broadcaster freed

ILIGAN City — An outspoken radio broadcaster kidnapped last week was freed by his abductors but only after being beaten up, he said Tuesday.

Noli Ebarle, 32, station manager at dxBC radio, said in a radio interview that he was abducted at gunpoint by two armed men Saturday while travelling to Butuan City from nearby Cagayan de Oro.

Ebarle said he was stuffed into a van and kept blindfolded with a rifle barrel shoved against his cheek. The armed men took his wristwatch and cellular phone and "manhandled" him, he said.

Late Monday, the abductors dumped the blindfolded and hogtied Ebarle in an isolated area of Talisayan town. He screamed for help and was found by villagers who took him to the police.

A companion of Ebarle, Arnel Lozada, said: "Noli was beaten black and blue and then thrown out of a van. But we are glad that he is alive."

Asked why he was abducted, Ebarle said, "I am sorry but these are things I cannot mention on the air."

However he hinted that his abduction was related to his criticism on radio of illegal logging, drug-trafficking and policemen who allegedly moonlight as bodyguards of businessmen without the permission of their superiors. — Ben Serrano, Lino dela Cruz