Dirty politics behind Yusoph kidnapping

By Froilan Gallardo

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY— It was all about the huge amount of bribe
money that corrupted election officials who issued orders to cluster
polling precincts to favored politicians during the last elections in
May, military officers and poll watchdog groups said.

The officers and NGO leaders said that this was the reason why
Nuraldin Yusoph, the 22-year-old son of poll Commissioner Elias
Yusoph, was kidnapped in Marawi City.

“Politicians who lost a lot of money want to recoup their losses. That
is the reason why Nuraldin was kidnapped,” said Brig. Gen. Ray
Ardo, chief of the Army’s 103rd Infantry Brigade. “They want to be
refunded,” he added.
At the center of the controversy that hounded the kidnapping of
Nuraldin is his father Elias, the only Muslim commissioner in the
Commission on Elections.

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), in its luwaran.com website,

said that “the kidnapping was a collective effort” of all losers in the
election “to force him [Commissioner Yusoph] to refund the bribes
given him during the elections” as it accused the election official of
“[taking] money from all sides.”

There was no immediate comment from the elder Yusoph and his
family about the accusation.

Sources provided Mindanews with a copy of a Comelec order dated

on May 9, 2010 ordering the clustering of polling precincts from 19
to 55 in Marawi City.

The order was signed by Comelec Chair Jose Melo who annotated
that “his signature was made upon recommendation of
Commissioner Yusoph.”

Commissioner Rene Sarmiento signed with “reservation” while

Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer did not sign at all. Commissioners
Yusoph, Armando Velasco, Gregorio Larazabal, and Lucenito Tagle
also signed.

Ardo said the order benefited Marawi City Mayor Sultan Fre Fahad
who went on to win the mayoralty election over former Mayor Abbas
Basman.

Did you notice that Commissioner Yusoph did not come to Marawi
during the entire 29 days when Nuraldin was in the kidnappers’
custody? He was scared that all the losing politicians will gang up on
him and demand a refund,” Ardo said.

Ardo himself is no stranger to election cheating. In 2004, he was

among the military officers who were accused of rigging the
elections for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Last February 2009, Yusoph, a provincial prosecutor in Marawi City,

was appointed by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to the
Comelec to replace Commissioner Romeo Brawner who died.

“Remember I did not give you a clear answer when you asked me
about Yusoph after he was appointed. It is because I do not trust
him at all,” said Hadji Abdullah Dalidig, head of the Islamic
Movement for Electoral Reforms and Good Governance (IMERGG).

He confirmed that bribes were paid to pay election officials in the

last May 10 elections.

Dalidig, who chaired the National Citizens Movement for Free

Elections (NAMFREL) in Lanao del Sur, was the 2004 whistleblower
who uncovered the dagdag-bawas electoral cheating that allegedly
benefited former President Arroyo.

The young Yusoph was moved from one hideout to another before
he was released in Cagayan de Oro City late Monday afternoon,
more than a hundred kilometers from where he was abducted in
Marawi City on June 20.

This was the surprise ending of the 29-day hostage ordeal of the
young Yusoph who was snatched in in front of the Bato Ali Mosque
in Marawi City.

Wearing a dark blue jacket and white tshirt, Nuraldin appeared to be

dazed and at times covered his face from the glare of
photographers’ flashes and TV camera lights.

“I was constantly threatened and blindfolded. I was always moved

around from one place to another,” the young Yusoph told reporters
before he was whisked to Manila this morning. He said he was
threatened to be killed at least nine times while in captivity.

The 22-year-old Yusoph said he could not recall the places where his
abductors had taken him during the 29-day captivity.

“I only remembered the threats. I could not see anything,” he said.

The young Yusoph said his kidnappers at first fed him only once a
day. But his food intake was increased as the days went by.

Lanao del Sur Gov. Mamintal Adiong said the kidnappers released
Nuraldin at Junction Ilaya, Macanhan and Masterson road in
Barangay Carmen, this city around 5:10 pm. Monday.
Adiong said the family of Yusoph did not pay any ransom for the
safe release. Nuraldin was whisked to Manila this morning and
brought to his father.