‘Subcontractor’ sought in ‘sabungeros’ case
Lawyers at the Department of Justice (DOJ) are considering filing cases of kidnapping, murder and violations of the international humanitarian law against the perpetrators behind the disappearance of 34 sabungeros or cockfighting enthusiasts, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said on Tuesday.
“We’re rolling by the day, we’re looking at everything by the day, and at the same time, our lawyers are in conference about the cases that are being evaluated for filing—from kidnapping to international humanitarian law. These are considered probable cases that we will be filing together with the murder and other cases that have to be filed against the perpetrators,” Remulla told reporters in a chance interview.
The DOJ chief disclosed more details about the ongoing investigation, saying that they are trying to find the owner of a fishpond in Taal Lake that was allegedly leased by one of the suspects in the case.
Killings subcontracted
This person, Remulla said, could be one of the “subcontractors” tasked to carry out the killings.
“This is horrifying. It’s a very ghastly scene we can [only] imagine. Some people are being targeted for execution and turned over to others, with each group having its own contract. There’s one contractor who actually carries it out,” he added.
According to him, they are preparing for an exploratory dive in which Taal’s lake bed will be mapped out as they wait for the necessary equipment to be lent out by the Japanese government, on top of a ground penetrating sonar, which will come from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
At the same time, the Supreme Court said it would take appropriate actions if needed as it conducts an independent and thorough investigation into claims, as reported to it by the DOJ, that an individual allegedly involved in the missing sabungeros case may be exerting influence over some judges and justices.
“As with all reports received through various channels—including our dedicated email address integrity@judiciary.gov.ph—the Court treats such information with utmost seriousness,” Supreme Court Spokesperson Camille Ting told reporters in a Viber message.
Ting did not directly refer to the allegation, only saying that the high tribunal has a policy to “receive and act on credible reports of corruption, including those coming from high-ranking government officials such as the Secretary of Justice.”
“When warranted, appropriate actions are taken in accordance with established procedures,” she stressed.
Remulla earlier disclosed that he had talked to Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo about the investigation of judiciary members who might be involved in the case.
More info coming
Asked on Tuesday what kind of information he provided to Gesmundo, the DOJ chief replied: “I gave them something—let’s just say I gave them something they’re trying to digest now. But there’s more coming, there’s more. We still have more. We’re getting transcriptions of a lot of recordings we have right now.”
According to Remulla, the judiciary members may have been involved in “transactional” influence to intervene in the case of a certain “powerful” individual.
Whistleblower Julie “Dondon” Patidongan earlier claimed that a former judge was “handling” judges and prosecutors to allegedly clear gaming tycoon Charlie “Atong” Ang of involvement in the case.
This was after Patidongan, also known as alias “Totoy,” tagged Ang, along with other members of the Pitmaster Alpha group, as the masterminds behind the disappearance of the 34 cockfighting aficionados. He said the victims were abducted and strangled to death before their bodies were dumped in Taal Lake in Batangas province.
The Alpha group used to operate e-sabong or live cockfights shown online.
According to Remulla, there could be more personalities involved as their investigation showed that aside from Alpha, there were also Delta, Charlie and Bravo groups composed of businessmen and “government functionaries,” among others.
“It’s tiered according to the income stream they each receive from the e-sabong industry. This is really serious. It’s corporate, totally corporate. What we’ve learned most recently is that there’s a Delta Group operating within a certain income bracket,” he said.
