Drilon Abduction Aftermath: The Isnajis, Heroes or Suspects?

Written on Wednesday, June 18th, 2008 at 6:17 pm | by Ding G. Gagelonia

Well placed and reliable sources have confirmed:

Indanan, Sulu mayor Alvarez Isnaji and his son, Jun Isnaji were flown to Manila from Jolo via Zamboanga this morning and brought to Camp Crame in Quezon City, the home camp of the Philippine National Police.

This writer’s sources, in Jolo and Camp Crame both confirm the father and son were “invited” by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to “shed light into the circumstances surrounding the 9-day abduction of broadcast journalist Ces rilon, cameraman Jimmy Encarnacion, Mindanao State Univrsity professo Octavio Dinampo, and the fourth earlier released assistant cameraman Angelo Valderama.

My Camp Crame source replied in the affirmative when asked if the Isnajis were undergoing tactical interrogation as possible suspects.

This writer has received information that the investigators “are looking into the angle that the “abduction-for ransom could be part of political fund-raising activities” in connection with the forthcoming elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Mayor Isnaji is one of seven gubernatorial aspirants.

My sources tell me police investigators “found it curious that while Isnaji first called the fund sought for the release of Valderama “board and lodging fee,” the increased ‘package cost’ of 15 million pesos for the ‘one batch’ release of Drilon, Encarnacion and Dinampo was “finally labeled by Isnaji as ransom money.”

The haggling continued with government negotiators asking Isnaji to tell the kidnappers “that maybe they could be offered development and livelihood support projects.”

But Isnaji coupled his last statements with the ‘revelation’ that if the ransom was not paid by the 12-noon Monday “ultimatum” from the kidnappers, beheadings would have taken place by 2 pm yesterday.

When authorities did not budge from the ‘no ransom policy’, Isnaji said he “pleaded and spoke to the abductors 8 times and was able to convince them to extend the ransom payment deadline indefinitely.”

Earlier over the weekend, the military’s anti terrorist Task Force Comet led by Maj. Gen. juancho Sabban (which is part of the AFP Western Command headed by Lt. Gen. Nelson Allaga) brought troop and military hardware reinforcements into Jolo aboard the navy ship BRP Bacolod City and on Sunday bombarded the uphills of Mt. Tumatangis in the Patikul-Indanan area with howitzer and mortar fire.

Jolo police also prepared to mobilize a 150-man battle-ready strike unit.

This writer can now reveal that ahead of the release of Drilon and her two remaining companions, the military had pinpointed their actual location somewhere in Talipao town just outside Jolo.

Talipao is adjacent to Indanan and Patikul municipalities.

A Postscript:

The Isnaji father and son were this morning, Thursday June 19 in Manila, officially placed under arrest and are being charged as principal suspects.

Further background: the younger Isnaji, Haider ‘Jun’ Isnaji formerly managed the provincial port of Sulu while his father was briefly appointed officer-in-charge of the ARMM government when Nur Misuari was governor. Alvarez Isnaji is an ex commander of the MNLF.

Tags: ,
Add to del.icio.us | Digg this! | Yahoo MyWeb | Google Bookmark It! | Stumble It!
About The Author: Ding G. Gagelonia is a journalist of some 30 years, having worked in both radio and TV news and public affairs since his teens. Ding Gagelonia now writes independently and does corporate communications consulting. He has two kids, Felice and Luis. His journalist blog is at midfield.wordpress.com

Filed Under Politics

Related Entries:

Comments

3 Responses to “Drilon Abduction Aftermath: The Isnajis, Heroes or Suspects?”

  1. the jester-in-exile on June 18th, 2008 6:43 pm

    ooooh. seems as if there are indications that isnaji could have been expecting a cut somehow.

  2. Nick on June 19th, 2008 8:24 pm

    This is why we there is a standard operating procedure in place, one person that negotiates, and one person through which all communication goes through.. not a damn free for all.. in the end, the only winners in this is ces and the others, and of course those damn bandits!

  3. Manuel L. Quezon III: The Daily Dose » Blog Archive » Since Iraq, a hard place to be on June 20th, 2008 4:29 pm

    […] of of the mayor-intermediary and his son and their being whisked off to Manila, as reported by Ding G. Gagelonia (his coverage of the whole thing deserves an award)- raised by observers like The Write Stuff, the […]

Leave a Reply