THE PNP yesterday offered to provide security personnel to ensure the safety of one of the accused in the case of the 34 missing “sabungeros” or cockfighting enthusiasts who disclosed that the victims are already dead.
In a phone interview with reporters, PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Fajardo said they are “ready to provide assistance, including the provision of security, to the witness,” stressing that his statement will strengthen the case against the other suspects.
Fajardo said the PNP will reach out to the accused-turned-witness, who is identified only as alias Totoy.
Totoy recently told a television interview that he is willing to testify on what happened to the victims, who he said were killed and buried in Taal Lake in Batangas.
Totoy, who is one of the six security guards detailed in the Manila Arena where several of the missing sabungeros were last seen, said he decided to disclose what he knew due to threats to his family’s safety.
He vowed to identify the mastermind in the abduction and killing of the cockfighters.
Fajardo urged the witness to cooperate with the police, noting that it was the PNP – Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) which filed the kidnapping case against the accused.
“We welcome this new development. We hope he’s going to trust the police. We are ready (to have him as a witness),” she said.
“I spoke with the chief PNP (Gen. Nicolas Torre III) last night, he already knows the story, and he said if there is a need to secure the witness, the PNP is going to do it,” she also said.
“He (Torre) said we (PNP) will secure the witness if he will come forward. He will give that assurance (to the witness) personally,” she added.
Asked if the PNP will exert effort to locate the victims in Taal Lake, Fajardo said the PNP needs to first hear the details, specifically the exact location, because locating the remains of the victims will be a challenge since the lake is deep and they may need professional divers to do the job.
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said the Department of Justice (DOJ) will verify the witness’ disclosure.
Remulla said that while there is an air of credibility in the witness’ statement that the 34 cockfighters, who have been missing since 2021, were strangled with wire and their bodies dumped in Taal Lake, the information should be treated carefully.
“Kung walang trace talaga, it can be a credible story. Kasi when people vanish without a trace, they might have been taken to places where no one has looked,” Remulla told reporters in a chance interview at the DOJ.
“Pero kailangan natin ng (But we need) tactical divers to verify, to determine the veracity of the information. It is not easy to go into a lake bed and to look, to search for human remains,” he added.
Remulla said the DOJ will do everything to find the truth and give justice to the victims and their loved ones.
“It is one of the things that we have to do, na hanapin (to search) and exhaust all efforts to find them, to find the human remains… We will not stop. This is a social responsibility to all Filipinos to put to rest any doubt about the people kidnapped,” he said.
The DOJ chief said he is ready to meet with the witness to find out if he is telling the truth.
“This is not just about crime, it’s about the Filipino soul. We cannot move on without knowing the truth. We owe it to the families, and to ourselves,” he also said.
Remulla said he has instructed prosecutors to further build up the case.
“We’re still studying a lot of things. It’s hard to close a case that hasn’t been closed yet,” he said.
Last year, Remulla said he considered the missing sabungeros as already dead.
Earlier, the Court of Appeals reversed the decision of the Manila Regional Trial Court allowing six accused in the case -Julie Patidongan, Gleer Codilla, Mark Carlo Zabala, Virgilio Bayog, Johnny Consolacion, and Roberto Matillano Jr. – to post bail.
The suspects were charged in January 2023 in connection with the disappearance of Marlon Baccay, James Baccay, Mark Joseph Velasco, Claude Inonog, Rowel Gomez and Rondel Cristorum in 2022.
The DOJ in a resolution released in December 2022 found that the six accused conspired with each other with regards the disappearance of the victims on January 13, 2022.
It has likewise indicted three Laguna cops – Ssgt Daryl Paghangaan and Patrolmen Roy Navarete and Rigel Brosas – for robbery and kidnapping of e-sabungero agent Ricardo Lasco. – With Ashzel Hachero
