JUSTICE Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla yesterday said the Department of Justice (DOJ) is looking at discharging suspect-turned-whistleblower Julie “alias Totoy” Patidongan as an accused in the missing “sabungeros” (cockfighting enthusiasts) case to become a state witness.
“We will ask the court to discharge him as an accused in the case,” Remulla told reporters in a chance interview, but quickly clarified that the matter is still “being evaluated.”
Patidongan was one of the six suspects charged before a Manila regional trial court for abduction and serious illegal detention for the disappearance of six sabungeros, who were last seen at the Manila Arena in 2022.
The six missing cockfight enthusiasts are John Claude Inonog, Rondel Cristorum, Mark Joseph Velasco, Rowel Gomez, and brothers James Baccay and Marlon Baccay.
Patidongan recently turned whistleblower in the case, telling government probers that the six missing sabungeros, along with other cockfight players, have been killed and their remains dumped in Taal Lake.
Technical divers from the Philippine Coast Guard have been searching since early this month the lakebed for the supposed remains. They have so far recovered several sacks containing what are believed to be human bones, which have been submitted for forensic examination and possible DNA testing to determine if they belong to one of the missing sabungeros.
Patidongan has also linked gaming tycoon Charlie “Atong” Ang to the missing sabungeros, claiming that he was the mastermind behind the kidnapping and killing of the players.
He has also tagged 12 policemen, who were supposedly the ones who abducted the sabungeros, as well as former National Capital Region Police Office Jonel Estomo to the case.
They have all denied the allegations, with Ang filing a P300 million damage suit against Patidongan before the Mandaluyong city prosecutors office.
Remulla has earlier said Patidongan’s disclosures have helped authorities a lot in their investigation on the case, which have been ongoing since 2022.
‘KEEP QUIET’
PNP chief Gen. Nicolas Torre III yesterday distanced himself from the administrative case filed by Patidongan and his brother Elakim against Brig. Gen. Romeo Macapaz,
director of the Soccsksargen police regional office, before the National Police Commission (Napolcom).
“I would rather keep quiet on that,” Torre told a press briefing, referring to the case filed by Patidongan last week.
Aside from Macapaz, the whistleblower also charged Lt. Col. Rossel Encarnacion and lawyer Jairus Vincent Concina.
The case stemmed from last month’s supposed irregular arrest of Elakim and another Patidongan brother, Jose, at a Southeast Asian country.
Patidongan said operatives of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), then headed by Macapaz, were only supposed to fetch his brothers as state witnesses, but they ended up getting arrested.
Police said Elakim was arrested for illegally using an alias, noting that he has been using the name “Robert Baylon” in traveling to the Southeast Asian country, while Jose was apprehended by virtue of a standing arrest warrant for robbery.
The three Patidongan brothers are being considered as government witnesses in the sabungeros case.
Police said Elakim and Jose are vital to the case, particularly in the disappearance of two of the missing sabungeros – Michael Bautista and Melbert John Santos.
Police said Jose was seen in a closed-circuit television footage escorting Bautista, who was in handcuffs, while Elakim supposedly withdrew money from an ATM machine in Batangas using the card of Santos.
Elakim said CIDG operatives purportedly seized his and Jose’s mobile phones when they were arrested.
He also said CIDG operatives later returned the phones, but without the SIM cards and memory cards which he claimed contained evidence on the sabungeros case.
“I would rather not add live voice on the confusion because at the end of the day, we have one objective – justice for the missing sabungeros,” Torre said, adding that making any statement “will be doing a great disservice to these families that are still waiting for justice.”
“So pardon me. Let us leave it at that. Let it (case) run its due course and I do hope that it will be resolved with the main objective, with the main purpose which is justice for the missing sabungeros,” he said. – With Victor Reyes
