Kidnapped Basilan town vice mayor calls husband

ZAMBOANGA CITY - The kidnapped Basilan town vice mayor managed to contact her family on Tuesday night, but did not any demand from her captors.

Superintendent Diomarie Albarico, Zamboanga City Police Station 11 commander, said Hadji Muhtamad Vice Mayor Arsina Kahing Nanoh, 20, called up her husband at around 9:30 p.m. Tuesday.

“But the victim only talked about the detail how she was taken from a mall and into the getaway vehicle,” Albarico said.

He said that the vice mayor's kidnappers have yet to issue demands in exchange for her release.

Albarico said that based on the footages of the security cameras of the mall where the mayor was taken, she was seen casually walking with her captors out of the establishment.

The police official said that this was the reason why the mall's security guards did not notice the abduction.

Albarico said at the time of the abduction, the family told investigators that the vice mayor was in possession of P300,000 worth of jewelry and cash amounting to P50,000.

He said the investigators are looking at two angles in the abduction case: that it was politically motivated because she has a pending eletoral protest and because of the victim's gold and jewelry business.

He said police intelligence units have been mobilized to determine the whereabouts of the victim and her kidnappers.