Negotiator Charged for Kidnapping..What can you say?

[godsaint]

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Isnaji, son tagged as suspects in TV crew, prof kidnapping
06/19/2008 | 09:17 AM

MANILA, Philippines - Police have arrested Sulu Mayor Alvarez Isnaji and his son for the kidnapping of broadcast journalist Cecilia Victoria “Ces" Oreña-Drilon and three others in Sulu last June 8.

In an interview on dzBB radio, Interior Sec. Ronaldo Puno on Thursday morning said the arrest was based on statements by witnesses tagging Isnaji and his son, Haider, to the kidnapping.

The two had earlier been flown to Manila Wednesday after they were invited by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) for questioning over the kidnapping of Drilon, her cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion, driver Angelo Valderama and Mindanao State University professor Octavio Dinampo.

The elder Isnaji was hand-picked by the Abu Sayyaf as the "negotiator" for the hostages' release, while the younger Isnaji was one of the "emissaries" to the kidnappers.

The two are now considered principal suspects in the abduction.

"Opo, confirmed yan. Kagabi ni-report sa akin ng CIDG na inaresto na nila ang mag-ama in connection with the kidnapping. Ang pagsusuri nila noong araw kahapon ay nagpalabas ng result na sa tingin nila may pananagutan sa batas ang mayor at kanyang anak (Yes, their arrest is confirmed. The PNP CIDG reported to me Wednesday night they have arrested the mayor and his son in connection with the kidnapping. Their investigation showed the mayor and his son had criminal liability)," Puno said.

A separate dzBB report quoted Puno as saying that the two may be charged as principals in charges of "conspiracy to commit kidnapping" which authorities intend to file Thursday afternoon.

Puno said the filing of charges is based on jurisprudence or decisions issued by courts on the liabilities of people involved in the same situation.

"Ang nangyari kasi dito si Mayor Isnaji ang pinili ng mga kidnapper na kinatawan nila. Hindi pamilya ang humingi niyan, hindi gobyerno ang nag-assign sa kanila, yung kidnapper ang humirang sa kanila bilang kanilang kinatawan (What happened was Mayor isnaji was chosen by the kidnappers to represent them. He was not asked by the family nor did the government assigned him for it, it was the kidnappers who picked him)," Puno said.

He said the police examined Isnaji's actions after he was chosen as the kidnapper's negotiator.

"'Yung mga kilos ba nila ay nakatulong sa pagpapatuloy ng krimen? 'Yun ba ay tulong lamang sa pamilya, hindi ba nila talagang tinutulungan yung kidnapper? (Did their actions helped in prolonging the crime. Did they really helped the family or it was the kidnappers they were assisting)," the DILG chief said.

For his part, CIDG head Chief Superintendent Raul Castañeda said charges of kidnapping will be filed Thursday afternoon against Isnaji and his son.

“We will be filing the case based on the evaluation of our investigators and lawyers who conducted the debriefing," Castañeda said, adding that the police have "some witnesses who were at the scene of the whole incident during the crisis."

Castañeda said there were also inconsistencies in the statements given by Mayor Isnaji and his son during the debriefing.

Castañeda said the mayor and his son are detained at CIDG headquarters as of Thursday morning. He said the two will remain in Manila until the police file the case against them.

"The prosecutor will determine if we will hold them, It depends on the appreciation of the prosecutor on the merits of the case," Castañeda.

He added that, so far, the Isnajis were the only suspects in the abduction they were holding.

Meanwhile, PNP chief Director General Avelino Razon Jr said authorities are conducting a series of follow-up operations to arrest personalities who can bolster the case by linking Isnaji to the crime.

"Pinagsama-sama namin ang pahayag ng ibang taong involved dito. Yan ang batayan ng CIDG para mag-file ng case kay Isnaji at kanyang anak (We put together the statements we gathered so far. Those statements will be the basis of the CIDG in filing kidnap charges against Isnaji and his son)," Razon said in an interview on dzXL radio.

"Meron po tayong mga fina-follow-up na huhulin na tuturong kasama si Isnaji (We are conducting a follow-up operation that may lead to more evidence against Isnaji)," he added.

Razon also cited reports that one of the kidnappers is a nephew of the mayor.

"May tinitingnan tayong isang personality, malalaman natin pag arestado na ito (We are looking at personalities and we'll know once they are arrested)," Razon said, adding the operations are focused in Jolo and Zamboanga.

Razon said the PNP is also conducting a parallel investigation into alleged payoffs involving duffel bags of money brought to Sulu hours before the hostages were released.

"Hindi natin alam ang laman ng duffel bag. Ito ang punto ng ating imbestigasyon, tingnan natin kung may connection ito sa kidnapping (We don't know what the duffel bags contained. This is the point of our investigation, we'll see if this is connected to the kidnapping)," Razon said.

Meanwhile, Razon said Dinampo is not considered a suspect in the crime. He said Dinampo is in Zamboanga City in the custody of the military's MIG-9 unit.

"Hindi siya arestado, di siya considered a suspect (He is not arrested, he is not considered a suspect)," Razon said. - Amita Legaspi, GMANews.TV

[Motownkid]

klaro na daan sa pattern.. maayo kuno nga negotiator kay nituo jud ang mga bandits niya... bantog ra!... pagka paet..

oh well, until proven guilty...

[godsaint]

para nako dapat sad imbestigahan ang professor.Sa interview sa driver nga naghatod nila,they were met by armed men then he(driver) went back cause as if they knew those men.Sakto gyud si Ces naay betrayal.Problem is; kinsang mga tawhana ang involve?

[radiostar]

how about the malaysian president? iya man to gipangbayran ang mga terrorista para dile bombahan ang malaysia katong circa 2000

though dile pata sure... kung kinsa apil

[elvishtattoo]

ingon si Ces the professor is also a victim...
kung suspect pud ang negotiator ka paet sa sitwasyon!
dili na jud hinoon ko mo to-o nga walay ransom involved.
dako kaayo ni nga pasangil.
tsk-tsk...

[AMD_infinium05]

whats going on with philippines. hahayz

[kamikaze426]

Ransom is big business in Sulu - INQUIRER.net, Philippine News for Filipinos

[BloomerBeak]

Dinampo: no basis to charge Mayor Isnaji for kidnapping; says Biyaw "should be debriefed, too"
Carolyn O. Arguillas/MindaNews
Thursday, 19 June 2008 17:16

DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/19 June) – The ”man of peace” thought he could “talk peace” with Radullan Sahiron, alleged leader of the Abu Sayyaf, but found on the day of their supposed “exclusive interview” with ABS-CBN senior reporter Ces Drilon, that they were had.

“We fell into a trap. I got naive… My fault, my fault. I thought I could talk peace with him,” Mindanao State University Professor Octavio Dinampo, presiding chair of the Mindanao Peoples’ Caucus (MPC) told MindaNews in a telephone interview from Zamboanga City shortly before 1 p.m. today.


Dinampo said there was “no basis” to charge Indanan mayor Alvarez Isnaji with kidnapping with ransom as he expressed hope the military would also “debrief” Juamil “Mameng” Biyaw, the alleged military asset who was their link to Sahiron and who literally escorted them to their abductors.
“I said unfair naman (to charge the mayor). Walang basis .. tumulong lang siya for our release,” (There’s no basis… he just helped secure our release).


Dinampo said that at the onset, the group that took them hostage did not want to deal with politicians but when Vice Governor Nur Anna Sahidullah was named negotiator, the group opted to also get a politician “whom they know and whom they trust.”


Prolonged


Dinampo left at noon today the Western Mindanao Command (Wesmincom) in Zamboanga City where he underwent a debriefing that took so long, prompting MPC secretary general Mary Ann Arnado, a lawyer, to call Wesmincom chief Nelson Allaga evening of June 18 to complain about the “prolonged debriefing” that was turning into a custodial investigation that should have required the presence of a lawyer.


Allaga phoned Fr. Angel Calvo of the Peace Advocates Zamboanga early morning of June 19 to inform him he can fetch Dinampo from the camp. Dinampo, Drilon and cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion were freed nearly midnight of June 17. Angel Valderrama, assistant cameraman, was freed on June 12.


Dinampo told MindaNews his debriefing took longer than Drilon’s and her crew “I guess because I’m more familiar with the place and the locals.”
The debriefing started at 6 a.m. on June 18. It continued until 2 p.m. when they took a break and resumed again at “7 or 8 pm and ended at 10.”


Dinampo said he was debriefed by several groups, among them the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), the Military Intelligence – 9 and the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP).
He was also made to sign an Oath of Undertaking that he would cooperate. ”Of course I will,” he said.
Their abductors, he said, were from the Abu Sayyaf group of Sahiron.

The trap


Dinampo, who is believed to have been the last person to interview Khaddafy Janjalani before he was killed, said he made the arrangements for interview with Sahiron “except the time and place.”
“All other arrangements were made by me except the time and place. It was only (Biyaw) who was trusted by Sahiron with the time and place,” Dinampo said.

Dinampo said he did not know until it was too late, that they “fell into a trap.”
Biyaw, he said, was with them en route to Maimbung on June 8. At 9 a.m., however, the Globe cell phones lost signal. Dinampo’s phone was Globe, Biyaw’s was Smart, so Biyaw was “texting (Sahiron) all the way.”


At one point, Dinampo said, they stopped about a hundred meters away from the mayor’s house in Indanan, to wait. When he asked Biyaw what was taking so long, Biyaw responded somebody was already being sent to meet them. They then moved on until Barangay (Tubig) Adjid, Indanan, near the bridge. Three to four armed men came to fetch them. This was around 11 a.m. Along the way, there were four more, making a total of eight persons.


Dinampo recalls they had walked about about 45 minutes when it rained. “We stopped at an abandoned house and prayed.”


He said he noticed three of the guards talking but could not hear what they were discussing because of the rain.


Biyaw approached him and told him “gusto ni Maas (Sahiron) paunahin ako” (Sahiron wants me to go first) and for them to follow.


When he asked why they could not go together, Dinampo said Biyaw told him that was what Sahiron wanted.

The betrayal


“That was the last time I saw him,” Dinampo said. This was just after the noontime prayer.


“That means may alam siya” (That means he knows something), Dinampo said, adding, ”I thought I could trust the man with my life.”


Biyaw joined Dinampo’s group in March during the Caravan for Peace to mark the 40th anniversary of the Jabidah Massacre in 1968.


MPC members recall Biyaw was a “difficult” participant since he was always complaining.
Dinampo explained Biyaw’s abandoning them was the reason behind Drilon’s “we were betrayed” statement. They were betrayed by Biyaw.


But Dinampo says “I don’t judge it that way because truth is relative.”
But Marama Hashim, driver of the vehicle they hired, said in his affidavit that Biyaw returned to where they left him four hours later, to inform him the driver he could go home.
Biyaw had told Dinampo that Sahiron wanted to see him first.


“I am asking that (Biyaw) be debriefed, too, like us, to learn if he’s telling the truth or lying,” Dinampo said.


When Biyaw left, Dinampo said, they continued walking for about three hours. They stopped at around 4 p.m. This time, the guards started taking their cellphones, tape recorders, cameras, bags.
“This was when I told Ces, ‘expect for the worst scenario,’” Dinampo said. (Carolyn O. Arguillas/MindaNews)


source: Mindanews

[colossus]

I was also in doubt at the start if they are really involved with the kidnapping even if there are already speculations before the victims are freed. I do not want to be bias with comments like they look like kidnappers because that would be unfair for them. But if the authorities have evidence like the ones they have now, that would be a different story.

The kidnapping incident could have thousands of angles and with the weight of evidence the authorities have; they could not discount the idea that the Isnajis are involved.

[yankee1264]

basta muklo di kasaligan..