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Poll official's son abducted by men seeking to nullify votes


(Update 4 — 6:53 p.m.) The son of a Commission on Elections (Comelec) official was abducted by unidentified men who reportedly sought the nullification of certain votes in Lanao del Sur, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said on Monday. Nuraldin Yusoph, the 22-year-old son of Comelec Commissioner Elias Yusoph, was abducted on Sunday night at the Bato Ali Mosque in Barangay Sabala Amanao, Marawi City, a report from PNP Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Regional Director Chief Supt. Bienvenido Latag said. Nuraldin, the sixth of Yusoph's 10 children, is married and has a four-month old child. Initial reports showed that Nuraldin was praying inside the mosque when several armed men forcibly took him, Latag said.
Suspects supposedly demanded the nullification of votes in the municipalities of Malabang, Picong, Taraka and Masiu in Lanao del Sur, Latag said. Of these four towns, only Masiu held special elections, Latag said in a separate interview. The Lanao del Sur Provincial Police Office is conducting intelligence monitoring to locate the victim, he said. Communicating with the kidnappers Yusoph confirmed the kidnapping, saying the abductors immediately contacted him and allowed him to talk briefly with his son. The Comelec commissioner received the call from an unidentified person at 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, two hours after his son was kidnapped, PNP’s Latag said separately in a text message. It was during this call when the demands were made, Latag’s text message added. The younger Yusoph is "okay," the commissioner told reporters in an ambush interview on Monday. The motive behind the kidnapping is probably "political" and "election-related," he said. However, the commissioner refused to elaborate any further. In a separate interview on Monday, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said that they're "fortunate" that the kidnappers are "very communicative." "To some extent nailalabas ang lahat ng gusto nila (they were able to give their demands)," he said. However, he refused to divulge the specific demands of the abductors because the poll body supposedly does not want to "jinx" the situation. "It's aimed to pressure the commission to do certain things... we have to make sure that that's all that is," he said. The Comelec has yet to come up with a shortlist of suspects responsible for the kidnapping, Jimenez said. "These things are being validated right now, unfair din naman sa mga talunan, all of a sudden suspect sila (it would be unfair to immediately blame those who did not win in the past elections)," he said. The Comelec’s first priority is the safe return of the commissioner's son, he said. But at the same time, it is maintaining the government’s policy of "no negotiation," Jimenez said. The kidnappers are wrong for assuming that Yusoph alone will be able to persuade the Comelec to make certain decisions regarding the elections, Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer said. "It's no cause for alarm. It's part of the game," he told reporters in an interview on Monday. The Comelec will also look into placing additional security detail for its officials and their immediate family members. "That will be subject to the existence of a credible threat," Jimenez said. In GMA News’ 24 Oras report, Jimenez said that no poll body commissioner has yet requested additional security. In Malacañang, Deputy Presidential Spokesman Gary Olivar said the police should do their best to rescue Nuraldin Yusoph. “We deplore this criminal incident and we remind the police authorities concerned to exert their utmost efforts in recovering the victim and bringing the perpetrators to justice," Olivar said. NBI, police begin efforts On Monday, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) announced it has begun tracking down Yusoph’s kidnappers. The bureau’s special task force under lawyer Arnel Dalumpines has started taking testimonies from witnesses in the abduction, NBI spokesman Edward Villarta said in a separate report. "Umpisa pa lang sila magimbestiga. Kumukuha sila ng statement. Kanina nakausap namin si Commissioner Yusoph," Villarta said in an interview on dzXL radio late Monday. (We just started investigating the incident. The NBI team is now gathering statements. We also talked to Commissioner Yusoph.) Villarta declined to say what the elder Yusoph had told NBI investigators so far. In a separate interview on late Monday afternoon, PNP’s Latag said that a crisis management committee has already been created to "address the situation." Members of the crisis committee include PNP and army leaders as well as Lanao del Sur Governor Mamintal Adiong. No action has been taken by the committee so far, Latag said, adding that they will continue to monitor the situation. - VS, RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV
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