Candao says nephew, ally abducted, ‘salvaged’

Former Maguindanao governor Zacaria Candao is asking authorities to investigate the abduction and "salvaging (summary execution)" of a nephew and the brother of his spokesman.

"We want this case investigated extensively," Candao said in an interview with a radio station of the Notre Dame Broadcasting Corp. in Central Mindanao.

Candao said his nephew, Murad Bajunaid, and Haron Abdullah, the brother of his spokesman, Odin Abdullah, were last seen in the premises of the new provincial capitol in Shariff Aguak town late last month.

He said they have confirmed that Bajunaid and Abdullah, both provincial government employees, were abducted and executed, and their bodies buried in a secluded area at the boundary of Shariff Aguak and Mamasapano towns, both in the second district of Maguindanao.

Candao said the area is guarded by heavily armed partisans and is virtually inaccessible to police investigators or non-government groups interested in looking into the case independently.

The former governor also urged authorities to investigate the killing of three local Muslim preachers whose bodies were fished out from an irrigation canal in Shariff Aguak.

Candao ran in last year’s gubernatorial race but lost, especially in the towns of Shariff Aguak, Mamasapano and Datu Piang. He has filed an electoral protest, seeking the voiding of poll results from the three adjoining towns and from at least five other municipalities.

Reports are rife that the Commission on Elections will soon decide on Candao’s petition.