Govt doing backchannel negotiations to free poll commissioner’s son

While there are no significant leads yet on the case, the government has begun backchannel efforts to free the abducted son of an elections commissioner, an official said Friday. Presidential Adviser for Mindanao affairs Jesus Dureza on Friday said he is going back to Marawi in Lanao del Sur during the day to meet with some council of elders to get backchannel support to solve the case. “Babalik ako ngayon sa Lanao to meet with council of elders… ito yung ating indigenous way of getting support (I am flying back to Lanao to meet with council of leaders and sultanate heads. This is our way of getting indigenous backchannel support to solve the problem in a peaceful way," Dureza said in an interview on dzBB. He said this is a way of augmenting the effort of the Crisis Management Committee in Marawi, headed by Governor Mamintal “Bombit" Adgion Jr. "There is an ongoing specific operational movement there and our police and security forces are following some leads to some suspects. Pero kailangan natin yung backchannel efforts… kaya may meeting tayo sa council of elders," Dureza added. When ask if some suspects in the kidnapping of Nuraldin Yusoph, 22, son of Comelec Commissioner Elias Yusoph, have been pinpointed, Dureza said government operatives are already getting more information on possible suspects. In an earlier interview with GMA News’ Unang Balita, Dureza expressed hope the case will be solved in a peaceful way soon. "The victim is an active, young Muslim leader. Wala naman siyang atraso (he has not wronged anyone). I think the abductors would take that into consideration," he said.
When asked if a rescue operation is possible, he said, “We are looking at it as an option. But we have to explore all possible means." On the other hand, Dureza said in the dzBB interview that until now there has been no formal contact with the kidnappers, adding that the only background information authorities are acting on so far is the one provided by Commissioner Yusoph based on the text messages on his cellular phone. An earlier police report said the abduction was done by groups seeking to nullify certain votes in Lanao del Sur. [See: Poll official's son abducted by men seeking to nullify votes] A team composed of National Bureau of Investigation agents was sent to Marawi early this week to help in the investigation of the case. [See: NBI team arrives in Marawi city to probe Comelec son's abduction] At a meeting with media last Tuesday, Commissioner Yusoph said his son was not being harmed by his captors. "He's not being harmed... we still hope that he should be released," he said. [See: Comelec official’s abducted son is unharmed, father says] — LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV