EDITORIAL - Blackmail

Winners in the May 10 elections have been proclaimed, but election-related security problems aren’t over. When murdering a rival is too risky while poll automation is so novel and too quick for manipulating the vote, what option is left for a losing candidate? In Lanao del Sur, the son of an official of the Commission on Elections was kidnapped to compel an annulment of the vote.

Nuraldin Yusoph, the sixth of 10 children of Comelec Commissioner Elias Yusoph, was praying in a mosque in Barangay Sabala Amanao in Marawi City Sunday night when armed men barged in and snatched him, according to the police. Commissioner Yusoph received a phone call shortly from the kidnappers, who demanded the annulment of votes in the municipalities of Malabang, Picong, Taraka and Masiu.

In several areas in Mindanao, elections have always been marred by violence, intimidation, vote buying and cheating. Maguin-danao has gained notoriety for cheating, the disappearance of election returns and, in November last year, the worst case of election violence that led to the deaths of 57 people. A standing joke in the Lanao provinces is that even the dead are made to vote in favor of local political warlords.

With the success of automated elections, those who cannot accept the people’s verdict have found a new way of undermining the vote: through kidnapping and blackmail. Comelec officials fell short of saying that a losing candidate is behind the kidnapping of the young Yusoph. But why would a winner want the vote annulled?

With the safety of the kidnap victim the foremost consideration, the Comelec must not yield to blackmail. If those behind this kidnapping get what they want, it could set a dangerous precedent and encourage similar attacks. There are legitimate ways of challenging election results. Losers must never see kidnapping as a viable option for thwarting the people’s will. Those behind the kidnapping of Nuraldin Yusoph must be brought to justice.