Monday, November 03, 2008 Isnajis' petition junked
JUSTICE Secretary Raul Gonzalez has denied the petition of Indanan, Sulu Mayor Alvarez Isnaji and his son for review of the state prosecutors' recommendation to charge them before the court for a kidnapping incident last June 8.
The Isnajis were accused as masterminds behind the June 8 kidnapping of ABS-CBN broadcaster Ces Drilon, her news team, and a professor in Sulu.
In a resolution, Gonzalez affirmed the findings of probable cause against the suspects by the National Prosecutions Service-Task Force Against Kidnapping for Ransom, chaired by Senior State Prosecutor Emilie Fe delos Santos.
Gonzalez said the defense of Isnaji and his son Haider, alias Jun, that they acted as negotiators for the release of the news team and not as masterminds of the abduction in exchange for ransom refuted their actions before and after the release of the victims.
"While it may be argued that the respondents-appellants (Isnajis) did not personally kidnap or detain the victims, their conduct demonstrates a conscious design to commit the crime of kidnapping for ransom, together with the kidnappers themselves," he said.
The following were given emphasis: decision of the kidnappers to appoint Isnaji as sole negotiator; suspect's possession of certain vital information to the exclusion of concerned agencies; suspects' failure to tender the full amount of the ransom to the kidnappers.
These, according to Gonzalez, strongly indicated that the Isnajis acted as more than negotiators for the kidnapping and had full knowledge in the circumstances and had participated in the commission of the crime.
Gonzalez added that the vehement objection of the Isnajis to the authorities' interception of lawyer Nasser Ynawat and their over zealousness to collect the full amount of the ransom notwithstanding the "no ransom policy" of the government, further bolstered their guilt.
Ynawat was tasked by the Sulu mayor to deliver the ransom intended for the release of kidnap victims.
The justice secretary also junked the contention of the Isnajis that their arrest by the Philippine National Police (PNP)-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group last July 18 was illegal because there was no warrant issued by any courts against them.
He said the warrantless arrest was made immediately upon the release of the Drilon and her team and the subsequent case conference that showed the Isnajis' complicity with the kidnappers.
"At the time that the respondent-appellants were arrested, the crime of kidnapping for ransom has just been committed. It was a continuing event, happening in a short span of time, from the release of the victims up to the arrest of the Isnajis," he said.
Other defenses raised by the Isnajis in their petition for review could well be ventilated before the courts, Gonzalez added.
Last July 21, the Department of Justice (DOJ) recommended the filing of kidnapping for ransom against the Isnajis, based on the testimonies of Drilon, cameramen Jimmy Encarnacion and Angelo Valderama, and Police intelligence chief Winnie Quidato, pointing to their alleged participation in the kidnapping.
No bail was recommended for the Isnajis' temporary liberty. The two waived their rights under Article 125 of the Revised Penal Code and opted to avail in the conduct of a regular preliminary investigation based on the complaint filed by the PNP-CIDG.
The DOJ panel said Mayor Isnaji had obviously taken an active role as alleged negotiator while respondent Haider appeared to have fist-hand knowledge of the activities of the kidnappers.
It gave merit to the claims of the PNP that the mayor, who acted as negotiator for the release of Drilon, her cameramen, and Mindanao State University Professor Octavio Dinampo from the hands of suspected Abu Sayyaf kidnappers, pocketed P3 million from an estimated P15 million ransom paid.
Quidato, who was sent by Interior and Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno to Isnaji to monitor the developments in the kidnapping, said in his affidavit that Isnaji repeatedly told him that he would pocket the P3-million out of the P5-million originally intended as ransom for Drilon. However, after the P2-million was delivered, Valderama was released instead of Drilon.
Since Isnaji has already been charged, he was automatically suspended from service.
Last August 12, the Supreme Court granted the petition filed by the DOJ panel to transfer the trial venue of Isnaji and his son from Sulu to Pasig. (ECV/Sunnex)
