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By William B. Depasupil and Jefferson Antiporda,
Reporters
Ransom was paid in exchange for the safe release
of television reporter Cecilia “Ces” Oreña-Drilon and her crew
and a university professor, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez
disclosed Friday.
Worse, Gonzalez said, pieces of evidence now in
the hands of government investigators showed that Alvarez Isnaji,
the mayor of Sulu province’s Indanan town and the appointed
negotiator with the terrorist group Abu Sayyaf that had kidnapped
Drilon’s group, partook in the loot.
A total of P15 million, the Justice secretary
added, was paid to the kidnappers of Drilon and her crew.
Of the amount, Gonzalez said, P5 million was
reportedly raised by the family of Drilon on her mother’s side,
while the rest came from contributions of a “concerned group.”
The ransom was flown to Sulu in southern Mindanao onboard a local
airline.
The Justice chief did not elaborate on the
identity of the so-called concerned group or if ABS-CBN was among
those that pitched in to raise the P15 million demanded by the
kidnappers.
“Our information states that Isnaji took about
P3 million, with the P2 million going to the Abu Sayyaf,” Gonzalez
told reporters.
According to him, government investigators have
in their possession at least five corroborating pictures, showing
Isnaji counting the P5 million that came from the Oreña family.
Gonzalez said the photos were taken by Senior
Supt. Willy Quidato, a police intelligence officer assigned to the
Sulu area who had posed as a government negotiator. He added that a
video showing Isnaji counting the money is in the possession of Vice
Gov. Lady Ann Sahidulla of Sulu.
Aside from the pictures and the video, the
Justice secretary said, authorities were also able to secure the
testimonies of witnesses, attesting that Isnaji shared in the
P5-million ransom earlier paid to the extremist group by the Oreña
family.
Police report
The Philippine National Police confirmed that
the P5 million was paid by the Oreña family but that only portion
of the money was given to the kidnappers. It said P3 million was
“pocketed” by Isnaji.
Director Gen. Avelino Razon, the national police
chief, said the P5 million was delivered to and received by the
Indanan mayor.
Razon, during a press conference held also on
Friday, even showed to the media photographs showing the Isnajis,
Sahidulla and Quidato counting the P5-million ransom delivered by
Ces’ brother Frank Oreña a day before the kidnappers released
Valderama on June 12.
The picture was taken inside the house of the
mayor who then delivered the money to the kidnappers.
It was also disclosed the mayor and his son had
been in constant touch with the kidnappers and even directed the
negotiations for the delivery and payment of the ransom. They also
persistently pressured the government negotiators for the delivery
of P10 million more for the release of the hostages.
It was not clear, however, if the remaining
ransom of P10 million was contained in the two duffel bags that were
flown to Zamboanga City on a Seair airplane on June 16, or a day
before the release of the Drilon group. To whom and when the money
was delivered and who finally received it also are unclear.
Oreñas may face charges
Razon said police are studying possible legal
action that authorities may take against the Oreña family for
violating the government’s “no-ransom” policy. He added,
though, that the police are giving consideration to the emotional
state of the Oreñas at present.
Earlier, he warned that the police will file
charges against anyone found violating the no-ransom policy.
“With this development, it shows that Isnaji
not only acted as a negotiator but possibly had other parts as
well,” the Justice secretary said. Gonzalez added that he had no
knowledge if Isnaji also had a share in the P10-million final
payment.
Formally charged
Charges of kidnapping with ransom were filed on
Thursday by the Philippine National Police before the Justice
department against Isnaji and his son Haijer, Abu Harris or Tek,
Taun Wals or Walid, a certain James and several John Does in
connection with the kidnapping on June 8.
With the charges and evidence on hand, Gonzalez
said Isnaji could no longer post bail as “kidnapping with
ransom” is a nonbailable offense.
He added that the Justice department is still
looking into the participation of Isnaji’s son and the possible
involvement of an unnamed figure.
According to Gonzalez, Isnaji had insisted on
the presence of the unidentified person before Drilon and her team
could be released.
The military and the police “had the location
of Ces pinpointed all the time. They knew the exact sitio where Ces
and her crew were kept. They were only prevented from acting on the
request of the negotiator [Isnaji],” the Justice chief said.
Public lawyers for Isnajis
Gonzalez added that the Justice department is
willing to provide Isnaji with lawyers from the Public Attorney’s
Office to serve as counsel. But the mayor, he added, can always hire
a private lawyer to defend him.
The office is an attached agency of the
Department of Justice that provides indigent litigants free legal
assistance.
Its chief prosecuting attorney, Presida Rueda-Acosta,
said that while their mandate is to provide free legal services to
poor litigants, they are ready to provide one to Isnaji if the
Justice department says so.
Repercussions on peace
Gonzalez earlier said the filling of charges
against the Isnajis could complicate matters in Sulu as the family
is highly popular and influential there.
He added that Isnaji’s social stature is
equivalent to or even higher than that of Nur Misuari, a former
chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front and also former
governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Isnaji is a
former member of the liberation front. (See related front-page
story.)
Gonzalez also earlier theorized that the
kidnapping of Drilon’s group could be a scheme for raising funds
for elections in August this year in the autonomous region. He
admitted, though, that he has yet to see the evidence against Isnaji.
“They [Isnajis] should be made to answer all
the questions. They seem to be close [to the Abu Sayyaf]. These
people are close to them. If the kidnapping is in aid of the
elections, then it will have less impact on the Abu Sayyaf. It would
just appear that they have just been used,” Gonzalez said.
He pointed out that the kidnappers’ demand for
Isnaji to act as negotiator was only circumstantial evidence.
Senior State Prosecutor Leo Dacera and State
Prosecutor Emilie Fe de los Santos, the head of the department’s
anti-kidnapping task force attended the inquest proceedings on
Thursday in the police’s national headquarters in Camp Crame at
the request of Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno.
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