Patidongan brothers turn state witnesses
Julie “Dondon” Patidongan, the whistleblower whose statements reopened the investigation into the disappearances of “sabungeros” (cockfight enthusiasts), has been admitted as a state witness along with his brother, Ellakim, in the kidnapping cases to be filed against businessman Charlie “Atong” Ang and at least 21 others.
In a 120-page joint resolution, the Department of Justice (DOJ) panel of prosecutors placed the Patidongan brothers under the Witness Protection Program following the dismissal of the charges related to the sabungeros case filed against them, including serious illegal detention and multiple murder charges.
“All the charges against Ellakim Patidongan and Julie Patidongan are hereby dismissed, they being admitted [as] state witnesses by the DOJ Witness Protection Program,” read the DOJ resolution that indicted Ang, several police officials and John Does, among others.
Separate case
This means the brothers will not be included in the 26 counts of kidnapping to be filed against Ang and the other respondents in three courts, according to DOJ spokesperson Polo Martinez.
Julie Patidongan has separate pending cases before the Manila Regional Trial Court for serious illegal detention and kidnapping, but his being a state witness does not mean he will be discharged from that case.
“That’s a separate case,” Martinez told reporters. “Procedurally, as to that case, he is not automatically discharged. That’s as much as I can say.”
The DOJ on Tuesday recommended the filing of 10 counts of kidnapping with homicide against Ang and several others, in addition to 16 counts of kidnapping with serious illegal detention. This was after the panel of prosecutors found prima facie evidence with a reasonable certainty of conviction to indict the businessman and the other respondents.
The accounts of the Patidongan brothers were used as basis in indicting Ang, several police officials and John Does. Julie Patidongan had claimed the sabungeros were abducted and strangled, with their bodies dumped in Taal Lake upon the orders of Ang.
Vital accounts
The DOJ prosecutors emphasized how Julie Patidongan “affirmatively recounted that a network of private organizers and police officers took, kidnapped and killed suspected scheming sabungeros on numerous specific incidents.”
He also categorically named Ang as the one who operated the online cockfighting operations and ordered the punishment of sabungeros who were suspected of cheating.
Ellakim Patidongan, on the other hand, said that on two occasions in 2022, he saw some of the victims being blindfolded before they were loaded into a van headed to Taal Lake in Laurel, Batangas, particularly near a fish cage, according to a DOJ resolution.
His account stated that policemen strangled the victims with wires and “loaded their lifeless bodies onto a boat together with sacks and sand.”
“Likewise, the statements of both Julie and Ellakim Patidongan provide direct and detailed narration of the active participation of certain persons in the abductions and killings of the missing sabungeros,” the DOJ said in its resolution. —WITH A REPORT FROM TETCH TORRES-TUPAS
