Whistleblower files admin raps vs 11 other cops
WHISTLEBLOWER Julie Patidongan, alias Totoy, yesterday implicated 12 policemen, including a now-retired general, to the kidnapping and killing of the missing “sabungeros” or cockfighting enthusiasts.
In a press briefing, Patidongan said the 12 were led by former Metro Manila police director Maj. Gen. Jonnel Estomo.
Patidongan, who was one of the six suspects charged for the abduction of the sabungeros, went to the National Police Commission (Napolcom) to file administrative charges against 11 of the policemen.
The 11 were Col. Jacinto Malinao, Lt. Col. Ryan Jay Orapa, Maj. Mark Philip Albadilla, Chief Master Sergeant Arturo Dela Cruz Jr., Senior Master Sergeant Anderson Orosco Abale, Senior Master Sergeant Mark Anthony Madrique, Master Sergeant Joey Encarnacion, Master Sergeant Reynan Polencio, Staff Sergeant Alfredo Uy Andres, Corporal Angel Joseph Martin and one Aaron Acabillan.
Asked during a press conference if there are other policemen involved in the case, Patidongan said: “Yes, but he is already retired. It’s General Estomo.”
Patidongan said he previously met with Estomo, who he claimed was a member of the Alpha Group which is supposedly behind the illegal gambling operation.
He said gaming tycoon Charlie “Atong” Ang, who he earlier tagged as the brains behind the abduction and killing of the sabungeros, told him that Estomo wanted him (Patidongan) dead.
Estomo did not answer calls to get his comment on Patidongan’s allegation.
Estomo, a member of the Philippine Military Academy class 1992, left the police service in November last year, upon reaching the retirement age of 56.
The last post he occupied before retiring was commander of the Area Police Command-Western Mindanao.
He was designated as director of the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) in 2022.
After his stint as NCRPO chief, he served as PNP deputy chief for operations, the third highest position in the PNP; got demoted as PNP director for plans; then promoted as commander of the Area Police Command-Western Mindanao.
Patidongan said he also plans to file charges against Estomo.
In his complaint, Patidongan alleged that Orapa received P2 million a month from people involved in the online sabong operations, while Malinao got P200,000 a month.
He likewise said that several other policemen, who are already out of the police service, are also involved in the case.
Asked how many policemen, both in the active and retired policemen, are involved, Patidongan said: “If I am not mistaken, it’s around 30.”
He said that the policemen were the ones who abducted the missing cockfighting enthusiasts who were accused of cheating or fixing cockfighting matches.
He also alleged that they took the sabungeros to a farm leased by one of the accused officers near Taal Lake, where they were eventually killed and their remains dumped at Taal Lake.
Napolcom vice chairman Rafael Vicente Calinisan said that the case filed by Patidongan was administrative in nature.
“The highest penalty punishment is dismissal from the service,” Calinisan said, adding that the complaint will be thoroughly reviewed by the Commission.
“We will respect the human rights of everyone, including respondents. We will follow due process of the law, due process not just for the complainants but also due process for the respondents,” he said.
He also said that if other agencies will use the Napolcom findings on the administrative case in the criminal aspect of the case, “then thank you and so be it.”
On July 4, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla revealed that 15 members of the PNP are being investigated after they were linked to the case.
PNP chief Gen. Nicolas Torre III confirmed that these officers are under restrictive custody in Camp Crame, Quezon City.
Of the 15, Torre said 11 were active, one retired, while three were dismissed even before the news about their involvement in the case surfaced.
DNA SAMPLES
The PNP has started collecting deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA samples from kins of the missing sabungeros for possible crossmatching with the suspected human remains recovered at Taal Lake in Batangas City.
“In terms of crossmatching, we already collected the standards (DNA samples) from the kins, from the family of the missing sabungeros,” Torre told a press briefing at Camp Crame.
Torre said some of the suspected human remains from Lake Taal are already with the PNP Forensic Group at Camp Crame for analysis.
PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo said DNA specimens were already taken from 12 relatives of the 34 missing sabungeros as of yesterday.
“We are just waiting for the official result to be issued by the Forensic Group if they will match with the possible human remains that were recovered there (at Taal Lake),” said Fajardo.
Torre said the crossmatching will not take much time though he described the process as “very technical.”
Pressed if those recovered were human remains, Torre said Taal Lake is a farming area so it is expected that animal and human remains will be recovered.
“If there will be a positive match, definitely it will be the biggest development in this case… It will be a major breakthrough because this will prove our earlier assumptions that they (sabungeros) were indeed killed,” Fajardo said.
Remulla refrained from commenting on Torre’s statement, saying, “that will still undergo forensic examination and we have to wait for the proper time.”
He also raised the possibility of filtering updates on the developments on the case.
“As I was telling my staff, not everybody should be speaking on what’s happening in Taal Lake. We should speak with one voice. It has to be mostly DOJ (Department of Justice) speaking about it. We don’t want the other people interviewed,” he said, without elaborating.
Technical divers from the Philippine Coast Guard and Navy have so far recovered five sacks containing what are believed to be human remains and other items since the underwater search and recovery operations in Taal Lake started last Friday.
PATIENCE
Remulla asked the public and the families of the missing sabungeros to be patient in relation to the ongoing investigation and underwater search and recovery operations.
In a press briefing Monday afternoon, Remulla underscored the tedious work being done in the search for the remains of the sabungeros.
“This is a long and broad process. You are searching a 240 square kilometer lake and very deep, kaya tyaga tyaga tayo hindi pwedeng panay panay may bagong tanong at bagong sagot kasi it’s a process (that’s why we have to be patient. We cannot immediately provide the answer to every question since there is a process involved),” he told reporters when pressed for an update on the operation.
He also assured the public that authorities are using the best scientific means to get to the bottom of the case that has eluded resolution since the sabungeros were reported missing in 2021 and 2022.
“The identification, the DNA methodology, we are moving to make sure that we are able to use the best scientific means to ascertain the identity of these remains that we will uncover in Taal Lake,” he said.
He said that as much as the DOJ wants to provide an update day-by-day, it cannot be done because “we have to look at the process that will happen for the next few months, next few days, weeks and months. There will be no instant answer to all the questions given to us.”
Remulla said he will meet with Patidongan this week to ask for further details on his disclosures.
“I will be talking to him again. Before, maybe within this week. And I’ll try to give you a briefing by Thursday on this matter. I have a lot of questions to ask and we cannot discuss this yet,” he said.
NO TO ‘BARA-BARA’ PROBE
Remulla also vowed they will adopt a painstaking and meticulous approach in solving the case, saying that a “bara-bara” or haphazard investigation is unacceptable.
“Hindi pwedeng bara-bara (It cannot be done haphazardly). So we’re really getting ourselves organized in this manner so that we can handle these cases with a very precise notion of where we’re going,” he said.
“This is why as the day goes by, the revelations are becoming clearer where they fit the picture,” he added.
Remulla said the DOJ will pursue the filing of the cases against those involved in the case even if there are families who have withdrawn the cases of their loved ones.
In 2023, the families of six missing sabungeros – John Claude Inonog, Rondel Cristorum, Mark Joseph Velasco, Rowel Gomez, and brothers James Baccay and Marlon Baccay – withdrew from the case.
At the time, the DOJ has already filed before the Manila Regional Trial Court kidnapping and serious illegal detention charges against six security officers of the Manila Arena, namely Patidongan, Gleer Codilla, Mark Carlo Zabala, Virgilio Bayog, Johnny Consolacion, and Roberto Matillano Jr.
Remulla said the withdrawal would not deter the DOJ from pursuing the case.
“As you know, in criminal law, there is such a thing as private offended parties. The families who filed the complaint, that’s natural. It’s their right to complain. But remember, the interest of the state is at stake here. We do not rely alone here on the private complainant,” he said in mixed Filipino and English.
DRUG WAR CONNECTION
Remulla also further elaborated on his previous remarks that some of the suspects in the sabungero case were tied to the the drug war killings committed during the previous administration.
He cited an operation in Meycauayan, Bulacan where the drug suspects were found to be “also intertwined with the e-sabong.”
“Meron talaga nagkaroon ng isang incident na napagtagpi namin, napagdikit namin yung dalawang kaso niya (There was an incident where we tied the loose ends, where we were able to link the two). And it happened in Meycauayan. In a gas station there, nagkaroon ng arrest ng dalawang tao na nakulong sa Batagas (two persons were arrested and they are now detained in Batagas),” he said.
However, he said the case did not prosper.
“We had problems with that case. Kasi nga, naghilahan yung ibang mga personalities about how to treat these suspects. Saka nag-recant yung mga kinausap namin noon (Our witnesses recanted). In fact, these people already went to the Senate to testify during the hearing conducted by Senator Bato (dela Rosa) on e-sabong,” Remulla said.
The DOJ chief said death squads involved in the drug war killings may have also intertwined links with the e-sabong operations.
“I think that the death squads might intersect more on the death squads, the people who undertake the contractual killings may intersect somehow with the drug war and with the e-sabong. Same, there are people involved in the drug war killings as well as in e-sabong. That’s as far as we can trace right now, but we will have to establish clearer links to each other,” he added.
DOJ TO TAP FORTUN
In a related development, Remulla said they will tap forensic expert Dr. Raquel Fortun to help authorities identify the remains of the missing sabungeros.
“She will be helping us. She’s always been receptive to our requests here in the DOJ,” Remulla said of Fortun.
He said they are just waiting for Fortun to end her medical furlough before inviting her to help in the forensic examination.
“I want to wait for her to finish from her medical furlough. She went through a health crisis also, but she’ll be there. She has always been cooperative with the DOJ,” he said.
Fortun is one of only two forensic pathologists in the country, the other one being Dr. Maria Cecilia Lim. – With Ashzel Hachero
