| Injured | Killed |
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Date: 20 June 2010
Source: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/194012/poll-officials-son-abducted-by-men-who-seek-to-annul-votes
(Update 3 — 5:54 p.m.) The son of a Commission on Elections (Comelec) official was abducted by unidentified men who reportedly wish to have certain votes in Lanao del Sur annulled, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Monday.
Nuraldin Yusoph, the 22-year-old son of Comelec Commissioner Elias Yusoph, was abducted on Sunday night at the Bato Ali Mosque in Barangay Sabala Amanao, Marawi City, a report from PNP Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Regional Director Chief Supt. Bienvenido Latag said.
Nuraldin, the sixth of Yusoph’s 10 children, is married and has a four-month old child.
Initial reports showed that Nuraldin was praying inside the mosque when several armed men forcibly took him, Latag said.
The suspects were supposedly demanding for the annulment of votes in the municipalities of Malabang, Picong, Taraka and Masiu in Lanao del Sur, Latag said.
The Lanao del Sur Provincial Police Office is conducting intelligence monitoring to locate the victim, he said.
Communicating with the kidnappers
Yusoph confirmed the kidnapping and said that the abductors immediately contacted him and allowed him talk briefly with his son.
“He’s okay,” he told reporters in an ambush interview on Monday.
He likewise said that the motive behind the kidnapping is probably “political” and “election-related.”
However, the commissioner, however, refused to elaborate any further. But he said that the National Bureau of Investigation is also investigating the matter.
In a separate interview on Monday, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said that they’re “fortunate” that the kidnappers are “very communicative.”
“To some extent nailalabas ang lahat ng gusto nila (they were able to give their demands),” he said.
However, he refused to divulge the specific demands of the abductors because the poll body supposedly does not want to “jinx” the situation.
“It’s aimed to pressure the commission to do certain things… we have to make sure that that’s all that is,” he said.
The Comelec has yet to come up with a shortlist of suspects responsible for the kidnapping, Jimenez said.
“These things are being validated right now, unfair din naman sa mga talunan, all of a sudden suspect sila (it would be unfair to immediately blame those who did not win in the past elections),” he said.
The Comelec’s first priority is the safe return of the commissioner’s son, he said.
“We’re coordinating with several law enforcement agencies… we’re working very hard for the safe return of the younger Yusoph,” he said.
No negotiation
Jimenez said that the poll body is maintaining the government’s policy of “no negotiation,” saying that there is no need to change that.
Comelec Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer added that the kidnappers are wrong for assuming that Yusoph alone will be able to persuade the Comelec to make certain decisions regarding the elections.
“It’s no cause for alarm. It’s part of the game,” he told reporters in an interview on Monday.
The Comelec will also look into placing additional security detail for its officials and their immediate family members.
“That will be subject to the existence of a credible threat,” Jimenez said.
In Malacañang, Deputy Presidential Spokesman Gary Olivar said the police should do their best to rescue Nuraldin Yusoph.
“We deplore this criminal incident and we remind the police authorities concerned to exert their utmost efforts in recovering the victim and bringing the perpetrators to justice,” Olivar said. – VS, RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV