Cotabato vice mayor denies kidnap allegations

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – Cotabato City Vice Mayor Muslim Sema asked that he and the other officials being linked to kidnappings here and in nearby Maguindanao be given their day in court.

Speaking to reporters on Friday afternoon, Sema, who was previously mayor of Cotabato, said allegations of his involvement in a spate of kidnappings of Chinese-Filipino and other wealthy businessmen were politically motivated.

On Wednesday, the police said formal charges had been brought against Sema, who heads a faction of the Moro National Liberation Front, and more than 20 others for kidnapping with illegal detention.

Also included in the suit were Sema’s brother, Councilor Sukarno Sema; former city administrator and retired police colonel Ismael Daulog; and Mayor Salaban Diocolano of Kabuntalan, Maguindanao.

“This is politically motivated,” he said.

Sema said he was denying any involvement in the kidnappings, including the Jan. 8 abduction of hardware store owner Eulogio Yu.

“I am denying any involvement in kidnapping,” he said.

Sema said when he was mayor, his administration worked closely with the military and the police to resolve kidnappings, which, he said, were stalling the city’s economic development.

"Now, I am being implicated in this," he said.

Sema’s lawyer-son Omar, who volunteered to be part of the battery of defense lawyers, said they planned to file an "administrative case" against city prosecutor Wilfred Buyco for endorsing the indictment, which has been docketed in court as criminal case No. 2011-4296.

Chief Supt. Gil Meneses, Central Mindanao police chief, said the revised information was filed after seven kidnap suspects arrested in General Santos a few weeks ago implicated Sema and the other personalities in a kidnapping syndicate operating in the region.

"I do not know these witnesses that implicated us in the case. I have been an anti-kidnap advocate since 1998 when I assumed as mayor of the city and now they are telling us we are involved in this?" said Sema.

He vowed to face his detractors and “will not stop until the people behind it are unmasked and made answerable for what they are doing.”

Sema said he was confident he would be able to prove the allegations wrong.

“We will have our day in court and defend our innocence,” he said. (report from Charlie Señase and Edwin Fernandez, Inquirer Mindanao)