DOJ chief: Raps vs Isnaji can complicate matters in Sulu

MANILA, Philippines - The justice department chief on Thursday said that filing kidnap charges against Indanan, Sulu Mayor Alvarez Isnaji and son might complicate matters in Sulu. According to Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, the negotiator was highly-influential in the area and enjoys a wide following among residents. Isnaji and his son Haider - who were hand-picked by the group of abductors to negotiate for the release of kidnapped ABS-CBN broadcast journalist Ces Drilon, her crew and a Mindanao professor - were placed under arrest by authorities after a debriefing in Camp Crame Thursday. Gonzalez said that Isnaji is highly respected in Sulu and is in fact running for the gubernatorial race in Sulu in the coming elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) on August. He said that Isnaji’s stature in Central Mindanao is as high, if not exceeding, as Misuari. Isnaji is said to be part of the original 300 members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). “He (Isnaji) is a VIP (very important person) in Sulu. Maybe that’s why the kidnappers chose him; they trust him to relay their message. (But) it will complicate a lot of situations if he will be aggrieved. We don’t know what his followers will do," said Gonzalez in an interview with reporters. He said that the fact that the kidnappers asked for Isnaji was a circumstantial evidence, which the accused should explain. While admitting that he has yet to see the evidence that the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) has on Isnaji, Gonzalez said that the kidnapping should be investigated as it could be part of a scheme to raise funds for the coming ARMM polls. “They should be made to answer all the questions. They seemed to be close (to the abductors). 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. Ginamit lang sila," he said. From the beginning, Gonzalez had said that even the negotiators should be investigated and debriefed. “I have not foreclosed that idea. I said that even Professor Octavio Dinampo should be investigated," he explained. In another forum, Gonzalez took a jab at the Lopez-owned Manila Electric Company, saying that there is a possibility that the kidnapping of Drilon, her cameramen Jimmy Encarnacion and Angelo Valderama, and Mindanao State University professor Octavio Dinampo was meant to cover up the Meralco controversy. “It’s a far-fetched idea. It’s a wild theory, but it could be a possibility. You just can’t dismiss it," he said during a news forum in Quezon City.- GMANews.TV