The Urban Side

(CNN) -- Three members of a Filipino television news crew traveling in the island province of Sulu were kidnapped Sunday and are being held for ransom, possibly by the Islamic militant group Abu Sayyaf, their news network said.

Ces Drilon, a well-known senior reporter for ABS-CBN, along with Jimmy Encarnacion and Angelo Valderama, were stopped by armed men while working on an assignment, the network said in a Wednesday statement. They were traveling with peace advocate Octavio Dinampo, a professor at Mindanao State University.

Abu Sayyaf, an al Qaeda-linked terrorist group, is infamous for their kidnappings and other criminal activities throughout the region. They were blamed for plotting an assassination attempt on President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, as well as several other terror attacks in the country including the bombing of a ferry in 2004 that left about 130 people dead.