Part of search for missing ‘sabungeros’
JUSTICE Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla yesterday said authorities have exhumed three bodies at a public cemetery in Laurel, Batangas amid the continuing search for the remains of the “sabungeros” or cockfighting enthusiasts who have been missing since 2021.
Remulla said the Department of Justice (DOJ) earlier received information that the bodies were buried by the police after they remained unclaimed at a funeral parlor.
“Hinuhukay natin ngayon as we speak dahil kailangan nating alamin sino ang mga taong ito (We are exhuming the bodies as we speak because we have to know who these people are),” Remulla told reporters in a chance interview late Wednesday afternoon.
He did not provide additional details.
He said the remains will be subjected to DNA analysis to check if they belong to any of the missing sabungeros.
Remulla said the development underscores the need for a more thorough investigation of the case, reiterating that the DOJ will not engage in “bara-bara” or haphazard probe of the incident.
The exhumation of the bodies was conducted parallel to the continuing underwater search and retrieval operations for the remains of the sabungeros, which were reportedly dumped at Taal Lake, according to suspect-turned-whistleblower Julie Patidongan, alias Totoy.
The Philippine Coast Guard has retrieved five sacks containing what are suspected to be human bones in Taal Lake.
The PNP Foreign Group is in the process of conducting examination if the bones are indeed human bones. If they are indeed human bones, they will be crossmatched with the DNA samples of the kins of the missing sabungeros.
Remulla has said that the search operations may last up to six months.
He also said authorities are looking for the remains of the sabungeros not only in Taal Lake but in other locations as well, adding that the number of victims could reach as high as a hundred.
Patidongan has told probers that the Alpha Group of business tycoon Charlie “Atong” Ang ordered the abduction and killing of more than 100 sabungeros who where caught cheating in e-sabong games and “fixing” cockfighting games.
SUMMONS
The National Police Commission (Napolcom) has served summons to the 12 policemen implicated by Patidongan in the sabungeros case.
Napolcom vice chairman Rafael Vicente Calinisan said the summons were served last Tuesday, a day after Patidongan lodged the administrative complaint against them.
“Our Inspection Monitoring and Investigation Service served the Summons yesterday (Tuesday) to 12 active police officers implicated by Totoy,” said Calinisan.
Calinisan said the 12, who he did not identify, were given five days to submit their counter affidavits.
“Failure to do so constitutes a waiver of their rights to submit the same. The complaint will then be evaluated whether or not it would proceed to a formal charge,” he said.
Patidongan identified 11 policemen – including a colonel, a liuetenant colonel and a major – who he administratively charged before the Napolcom during a press conference last Monday.
He also implicated now-retired police Lt. Gen. Jonnel Estomo to the abduction and killing of the sabungeros but did not include him in the complaint.
Estomo has denied any involvement in the case, describing Patidongan’s accusations as “malicious and baseless.” He said his lawyers are preparing charges against Patidongan for defaming his character and his reputation.
Last Tuesday, Calinisan said 18 policemen were actually named by Patidongan in the complaint – 13 active and five dismissed.
He said they will try their best to solve the case within 60 days.
Interviewed at Camp Crame yesterday, Interior Secretary and Napolcom chairman Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla said: “We already served notice to the police personnel and they will give their counter-affidavit.”
Remulla said the administrative investigation will go through the “normal process,” depending on the counter-affidavits of the policemen.
“Together with the DOJ, we will come up with a rational conclusion on the missing sabungeros story,” he said, adding that there will be “no sacred cows” in the investigation, may they be governors, mayors, or even senators.
“Alias Totoy gave a list. It’s a standard verification now. So more or less, the DOJ already knows who are the members of the Alpha Group but you should ask the DOJ who these people are,” Remulla said.
Patidongan has said Estomo is allegedly part of the Alpha Group which is said to be behind the illegal gambling operation.
‘PREPOSTEROUS’
Vice President Sara Duterte on Tuesday said her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte, finds the government’s attempt to link him to the sabungeros case as “preposterous.”
The Vice President Sara Duterte visited her father at his detention center at The Hague in the Netherlands where he is facing trial for crimes against humanity before the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“Sinabihan ko siya na (I told him that) there is an attempt to link him to the missing sabungeros case. So, sabi niya (he said) that it’s preposterous. Yes. It’s preposterous,” she told supporters.
The DOJ secretary has said that some of the suspects in the sabungeros case were also involved in the drug war killings during Duterte’s administration, citing a supposed “intersection” in their operations. He said there are allegedly people involved in the drug war killings who are tied to the e-sabong operations.
Remulla refused to comment on the former president’s statement.
“I have no response, I have no comment on that,” he said.
Meanwhile, Office of the Vice President (OVP) spokesman Ruth Castelo said her links to Ang ended in 2009 after she served as his lawyer in his 2007 plunder case.
“And as soon as he was released from (detention in) Bicutan in 2009, that was the end of our lawyer-client relationship,” Castelo told a press conference. “We remain friends, yes, but his own endeavors and businesses, I have nothing to do with them. So no, I’m not involved with any of his activities from the time he was released from Bicutan.” – With Victor Reyes and Wendell Vigilia
