Kidnapping story a fabrication? Military denies abduction claim, blames militants' propaganda

CEBU, Philippines – The Central Command, which was accused by the Bayan Muna as being behind the kidnapping of its member, said the reported abduction might just be the militant group's own doing.

"Bayan Muna, Karapatan and other progressive organizations are again in the attack mode and on their old tactics of besmirching the AFP and the government, imme-diately blaming the military as the perpetrators," read a press statement from the Civil Relations Group (CRG) of the Central Command.

Lt. Col. Jerry Lim, group commander of CRG, said these organizations could just simply be complying with orders from their superiors in conducting the offensives.

Earlier, militant groups Bayan Muna and Karapatan alleged that military agents were behind the abduction of a student of the Cebu Institute of Technology (CIT), Elke Ray Bacalso, a member of the Kabataan Partylist.

Bacalso was "abducted" on September 8 and was freed two days after.

"Karapatan has to make noise and use the issue of alleged abduction that may be of their own doings to gain attention and project that the left are pretty much active here in Cebu, though not any more popular as the people already knew of their motives and ends," Lim said.

Based on the initial data gathered by the investigation section of the Cebu Police Provincial Office, an abduction could not be ascertained yet because of the lack of suf-ficient evidence especially testimonies from eye witnesses.

Lim also pointed out that the victim himself did not say anything before the media. His face was also covered with a cloth, and two members of Karapatan and Pamana-Sugbo were the only ones answering questions.

Centcom views the incident as a fabricated story so the militant groups could utilize the issue to destroy the image of the military and the government.

The military also described it as a desperate move.

Lim said that earlier, a student of the University of the Philippines and vice-chairperson of Kabataan partylist, Kirsty Delight Tayone, was also declared missing by its organization when in fact Tayone was with her parents.

However, Centcom stressed it is "open and willing" to cooperate in any investigation to ferret out the truth and facts surrounding the alleged human rights violations by the military. (FREEMAN)