MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections has rejected the demand of the kidnappers of the son of Comelec Commissioner Elias Yusoph to void election results in several towns in Lanao del Sur.
“We will stick to our role as deciders of (electoral) protests and even Commissioner Yusoph said, ‘let’s decide the way the cases should be decided.’ That is the policy of the government,” Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer said yesterday.
“Otherwise all those who would lose in elections would engage in kidnapping. They cannot get anything from us,” Ferrer said.
Ferrer admitted there are pending petitions with the Comelec concerning the recent elections in Lanao del Sur.
Yusoph said his 22-year-old son Nuraldin was unharmed and that with the case now with the National Bureau of Investigation, he felt no need to go to Lanao at the moment.
The young Yusoph had just finished his prayers in a mosque in Barangay Sabala Amanao in the early evening of June 20 when he was snatched by unidentified men.
“We hope that he would be released,” Yusoph said, stressing that the kidnapping was part of the risks of his job as Comelec official.
The commission said only Yusoph would be allowed to speak about the kidnapping to avoid confusion and bungling of the case.
Political connections
Authorities have tagged an alleged notorious kidnapper and member of a prominent political clan in the kidnapping of the younger Yusoph.
Officials said Demaporo Masacal, who is in his late 40s, led the kidnapping of Yusoph.
“He (Masacal) is a nephew of a very prominent political leader in the first district of Lanao del Sur,” said Ali Macabalang, director of the ARMM’s Bureau of Public Information.
The ARMM’s acting governor, Ansarudin Adiong, has ordered the regional police to seal all entry and exit points in Marawi City and the first district of Lanao del Sur to restrict the movements of Yusoph’s kidnappers.
ARMM sources said Masacal used to be a member of a rebel group identified with Ustadz Muammar Biston, father-in-law of the founder of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), the late Salamat Hashim.
“But he (Masacal) was detached from that group because of his wrongdoings and involvement in various crimes. He is, in fact, being hunted both by the MILF and the Moro National Liberation Front to make him answer for some of the crimes he committed against Maranaws in Lanao del Sur,” a source from the ARMM said.
Macabalang, an ethnic Maranaw, said they have been receiving information that the kidnapping of Yusoph is related to the “very sensitive and very complicated” election controversies in some towns in the first district of Lanao del Sur.
One of the groups suspected of involvement in the kidnapping is reportedly ranting against a Comelec decision to cluster several voting precincts in some of the 45 barangays in Masiu, hometown of Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman.
One of Pangandaman’s sons is a candidate for the lone congressional seat in the second district of the province. There is still no proclaimed congressional representative in the district.
Special elections are still being readied in some parts of Lanao del Sur.
NBI joins probe
A National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) task force is scheduled to fly to Marawi City today to help in the investigation.
NBI Director Nestor Mantaring has ordered Arnel Dalumpines to lead the task force.
The team will coordinate with NBI-Iligan, which has already started its investigation.
“We will be having case conference here. But the NBI Iligan investigators have already started their investigation. They are now at the site,” Dalumpines told reporters.
ARMM police head Chief Superintendent Bienvenido Latag said the kidnapping was election related.
“An unidentified person called the commissioner at 9:30 p.m. Sunday, demanding the nullification of the election results of Malabang, Picong, Taraka and Masiu in exchange for the release of young Yusoph,” Latag said.
Latag also revealed the creation of Task Force Yusoph, in cooperation with the provincial Crisis Management Committee led by Gov. Mamintal Adiong Jr.
Latag said he has ordered Lanao del Sur Provincial Police director Senior Superintendent Panares Adap to establish checkpoints around the city.
Meanwhile, Malacañang ordered authorities to do everything to ensure the safe release of the younger Yusoph.
“There are clear leads but I cannot discuss them with you,” Executive Secretary Leandro Mendoza told reporters.
“I think politics is the motive here,” he said.
He, however, said investigators are not ruling out the possibility that the kidnapping was for ransom. – Sandy Araneta, Lino de la Cruz and Paolo Romero - By Mayen Jaymalin
