Nine days after they were abducted in Maimbung, Sulu province, ABS-CBN senior correspondent Ces Drilon, cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion and Mindanao State University professor Octavio Dinampo were finally released late Tuesday night.

“I want to thank everybody. Words are not enough to thank those who prayed for the professor, Jimmy, Angel, and myself,” Drilon told the reporters in Sulu before she boarded a military chopper bound for Zamboanga City.