MANILA, Philippines - The abduction of three people in Basilan province Sunday may be a "fund-raising" effort of some candidates in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) polls, the regional police said on Monday.
ARMM police regional director Chief Superintendent Joel Goltiao raised the possibility in a radio interview, noting that the kidnap group appeared to be a newly-organized band.
"Kasama na sa investigation na sinasagawa natin, lahat na motibo sa ngayon. Mukhang bagong organized KFR group ito (Fund-raising for the ARMM elections is part of our investigation. We are not discounting any motive. But what is emerging is that this is a new KFR group)," Goltiao said in an interview on dzXL radio.
In the meantime, Goltiao said they are increasing the number of checkpoints in the area in a bid to catch the suspects. This is aside from ongoing hot pursuit operations against the kidnappers, he said.
"Ina-analyze namin ang magdagdag ng checkpoint operation. Mas effective na preventive measure ang checkpoint operation (We are analyzing the possibility of increasing checkpoint operations. It is an effective preventive measure)," Goltiao said.
Unidentified armed men abducted the three people aboard a passenger jeep in Basilan Sunday morning, after taking valuables of other passengers.
Goltiao identified the three victims as Wilma Magno, an employee of the ARMM Department of Agrarian Reform; her 13-year-old son; and jeep owner Ronnie Ando, 38.
He said that so far, the Abu Sayyaf and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) had not claimed responsibility for the incident.
Goltiao noted that Sunday's incident was the third after the abduction last June of a television news crew and a university professor.
Other victims of abductions in the Basilan-Sulu area have included workers of an electric cooperative and technicians of a cell phone firm's subcontractor.
"Di natin gamiting reason ang paghihirap pero mukhang yan ang lumalabas na istorya ng mga taong yan (We don't want to make it an excuse, but it appears poverty is also a factor in the kidnappings)," Goltiao said. - GMANews.TV