ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Police authorities in Basilan are pointing to Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels as being behind the May 19 kidnapping of a 16-year-old boy.

Chief Inspector Edwin Placio, Lamitan City police chief, said Arasad Jion of the MILF in the village of Languyan in the municipality of Muhammad Ajul, has been holding Nico Sebastian captive since his disappearance.

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The MILF has denied the involvement of Jion in Nico’s kidnapping.

“Jion is our local provincial police commander in Languyan and he has no involvement in the kidnapping, much more taking custody of the victim,” Eid Kabalu, MILF civil-military affairs chief, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer by phone.

Kabalu said Jion could later prove to be helpful in locating the kidnap victim.

The MILF has entered into an agreement with the government for joint action against organized criminality in its claimed territories in connection with the peace process.

“We got information from the ground that the victim is being held captive by the Abu Sayyaf Group,” Kabalu said.

Nico was reported missing after visiting his childhood friend Nadsmhir Francisco on May 19.

Mayor Roderick Furigay described the two boys as bosom friends.

“In fact, the Sebastian family took care of Nadsmhir and helped him in his high school education,” he said.

Furigay said Nico’s reason for visiting Nadsmhir, who also hails from Muhammad Ajul, could be that he disappeared for a long time and just recently resurfaced.

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He said Nadsmhir was now being considered a suspect in Nico’s kidnapping. Placio said since Nico’s disappearance, Nadsmhir has not been seen again.

Marieta Sebastian, Nico’s mother, said her son’s abductors have been asking for P2.5 million in exchange for his liberty.

Janet Sebastian Tahil, the victim’s elder sister, told police investigators that two days after the kidnapping, she received a call from an unidentified cellular number. She said the male voice warned them that they would behead her brother if ransom was not paid.

“We cannot raise that kind of money because we are very poor, we only survive by doing kaingin farming,” Marieta said.

She also urged the kidnappers not to harm her son.

The Abu Sayyaf is known to behead their victims.

On May 12, 2009, Doroteo Gonzales, a 61-year-old farmer from this city, was beheaded after his family failed to pay ransom. His decapitated body was later found in Akbar town.

On June 11, 2002, two workers of the Golden Harvest Plantation in Lantawan town were also beheaded by the Abu Sayyaf.

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