Kidnappers free abducted Marawi sheriff

COTABATO CITY — Members of the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (AHJAG) succeeded in working out the release without any ransom of a court sheriff snatched in Marawi City last May 30.

The AHJAG, composed of representatives from the military and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, monitors the activities of criminals and terrorists in areas covered by the ceasefire.

Marine Gen. Mohammad Ben Dolorfino, chairman of the government’s AHJAG, said the captive, Palao Diamla, was set free by his abductors in Piagapo, a hinterland town in Lanao del Sur.

Diamla was on his way home from office when five pistol-wielding suspects blocked his path and forced him into a waiting vehicle.

Sources from the Lanao del Sur police have confirmed that the abduction of Diamla was related to his earlier rejection of an offer of P500,000 by a Maranaw leader, who lost in his bid for the vice mayoral post in a Lanao del Sur town in 2004, in exchange for helping secure a favorable court ruling on an electoral case.

His abductors have reportedly asked for P5 million in exchange for his release.

Dolorfino, a key staffer of the Armed Forces Southern Command in Zamboanga City, said his counterparts in the MILF, led by Zafrullah Dipatuan, negotiated for the release of Diamla.

"The negotiators threatened the kidnappers with joint military-MILF offensive to rescue the captive if he is not set free," Dolorfino said.

The AHJAG thrice negotiated the release last year of three kidnap victims in Central Mindanao, among them four-year-old Ralph Ashley Alcular of Kidapawan City, who was held captive for four months by members of the Pentagon kidnap-for-ransom gang in the Liguasan Marsh.

Diamla was set free in a coconut plantation in Piagapo.

Dolorfino said Diamla was immediately brought back to Marawi City from Piagapo by members of the AHJAG.