Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez on Thursday warned there may be repercussions on the arrest and the filing by police of formal complaints against Indanan, Sulu Mayor Alvarez Isnaji and his son Haider for the kidnapping of an ABS-CBN News crew in Sulu.
The police formally filed a complaint of kidnapping against Isnaji and his son early Friday morning to the Department of Justice (DOJ).
The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group filed the complaint to DOJ’s Chief State Prosecutor Millet de los Santos who started inquest proceedings at the CIDG headquarters late Thursday night.
The pre-trial conference for the case was reportedly set for 1 p.m. on Monday.
Aside from being mayor of Indanan, Sulu, Isnaji is also a
n official of the Moro National Liberation Front. He is also
president of the League of Municipalities in Sulu and the
MNLF's gubernatorial bet in the upcoming elections in Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) this August.
Gonzalez said there is no doubt Isnaji is an influential man in his province.
"He's a
VIP talaga there. Respected. So maybe that's the reason why the kidnappers chose him," Gonzalez said.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) earlier said there were inconsistencies in the mayor's statement and they have witnesses against Isnaji and his son.
"It will complicate a lot of situations there because if he will feel aggrieved, for example, we don’t know what his followers would do?" he said.
Press Secretary Jesus Dureza for his part said it is best to wait for the results of the ongoing investigation.
Dureza added while the government wants to make the kidnappers of the ABS-CBN news team and a Mindanao State University professor accountable, Mayor Isnaji deserves full vindication if his links to the abduction are not proven.
MNLF shocked
This early, top officials of the MNLF are questioning the PNP’s actions against Isnaji.
They said they are not happy with how the police escorted the Indanan mayor for interrogation in manila.
MNLF leaders said this is not what they expected after Isnaji played a big role in the release of journalist Ces Drilon and her team.
"One must congratulate him, commend him for a job well done. Per ‘yon nga ang nangyari he is being detained, being subjected to... tactical interrogation, at saka merong suspicion sa kanya ang mga pulis," MNLF Secretary General Abdul Sahrin said.MNLF Chairman Muslimin Sema said that, while Drilon and company were in the hands of the kidnappers Isnaji was the one conducting negotiations.
"I was shocked when they said that Isnaji was pinpointed as suspects... We (MNLF) don't know why Isnaji was pinpointed as one of the suspects," said Sema.
In a separate interview Sema said Isnaji was never involved in any abduction or shenanigan.
The MNLF chairman said the police should be able to present evidence to support their arrest of Isnaji.
Sema suspects that Isnaji may have been tagged by government authorities as the fall guy in the kidnapping.
"Walang mapagbuntunan ng galit, Mayor Isnaji ang pinagbuntunan ng galit," said Sema.
Meanwhile, the MNLF said it would provide lawyers for Isnaji to defend him.
Election-related?
A political ally of the Indanan mayor meanwhile believe that Isnaji’s arrest maybe related to the elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
"It gives us suspicion that this is politically-motivated. Alam mo di naman sa naninira tayo ng kuwan, ARMM. Ang police ng ARMM is completely under the control of the governor of the ARMM," said former Lanao del Sur 2nd district Rep. Benasing Macarambon.
Isnaji has filed his candidacy for governor of the ARMM in elections in August. He is registered in the Commission on Elections as an independent against the main administration candidate incumbent Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan.
Formal complaint filed
Police on Thursday said that the documents for the filing of kidnapping charges against Isnaji have been completed.
"Complete na ang documents," Senior Superintendent Nicanor Bartolome Jr., PNP spokesman, said in a phone interview with abs-cbnNEWS.com on Thursday.
Director General Avelino Razon Jr., Philippine National Police chief, said investigators have gathered enough evidence to establish the participation of Mayor Isnaji and his son, Haider, in the abduction of the ABS-CBN crew led by Ces Drilon and professor Octavio Dinampo.
"Our evaluation of statements from the victims and several witnesses all point to the participation of the Isnajis in the kidnapping Ces Drilon and her crew staged by armed men, two of whom we have identified as Abu Harris and Tuan Wals," Razon said.
Isnaji was hand-picked by the kidnappers as the "negotiator" for the hostages' release. Haider, on the other hand, was one of the "emissaries" to the kidnappers, Razon said.
The PNP chief, however, said that inconsistencies in the debriefing of the Isnajis led investigators to believe that both were actual participants in the kidnapping.
This was further bolstered by statements from witnesses and other evidence gathered by the PNP.
The PNP chief gave hint of more arrests in the coming days, including another suspect who has direct hand knowledge of the involvement of the Isnajis.
'Surprised'
Earlier, the elder Isnaji insisted that he and his son were not involved in the abduction of the ABS-CBN News crew and their guide last week in Indanan, Sulu province.
"I was surprised. I [gave] them hope," he said.
He also denied that the ransom money that was supposedly paid for the victims' release went to his pockets and his campaign kitty for the August elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. "That's not true. That's [the] allegation of some politicians who are jealous of me."
He added that he and his son should be rewarded for negotiating for the release of the television crew.
"I thought I should be given reward or what," he said.
Haider, meanwhile, suspects that he and his father are caught between a raging political war.
"Ces must know better. Maybe we are just caught in the middle between political in the country," he said.
The younger Isnaji appealed to the government to reconsider its decision to file charges against his father.
"I'm appealing to the government to reconsider everything, because my father has been advocating peace in Mindanao," he said. With reports from Marieton Pacheco, ABS-CBN News, Ren Tangonan, ABS-CBN Cotabato
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