By Victor Reyes
Copyright malaya
POLICE operatives have arrested a couple who supposedly offered P1.5 million to a relative of one of the missing “sabungeros” or cockfighting enthusiasts to recant her allegations.
The two suspects, who were not named, were arrested by operatives of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) during an entrapment operation at around 11 a.m. in Barangay Dolores in Taytay, Rizal last Monday.
“This successful operation is clear proof of your PNP’s commitment to hold responsible all those involved in the interest of truth and justice,” said acting PNP chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr.
Nartatez said he has ordered the PNP – CIDG to conduct a thorough investigation “to identify all those responsible for this brazen attempt to obstruct justice.”
“We will unmask all those behind this attempt to bastardize our justice system, and we assure the public that we will immediately file cases against them,” he said.
Prior to the operation, the complainant, a partner of one of the sabungeros, reported to the PNP that she was allegedly being harassed by four suspects who supposedly offered her P1.5 million to recant her statements against the accused in the case.
The Department of Justice has issued subpoenas against gaming tycoon Charlie “Atong” Ang and the other 60 respondents tagged in the disappearance and alleged killings of the sabungeros who have been missing since 2021.
The accused are being investigated for multiple murders, serious illegal detention, direct bribery and obstruction of justice charges filed by the families of the missing sabungeros.
Ang was tagged by suspect-turned-whistleblower Julie “Totoy” Patidongan as the alleged mastermind in the abduction and killing of the sabungeros, whose bodies were supposedly dumped in Taal Lake.
Technical divers have been searching the lake since July for the possible remains of the cockfighting enthusiasts.
Ang has denied Patidongan’s allegations, and has filed a damage suit against his former farm manager before the Mandaluyong prosecutors office.
CIDG director Maj. Gen. Robert Alexander Morico II said the two other suspects who have allegedly been harassing the complainant were not around during the entrapment operation.
Morico also said one of the arrested suspects is a relative of the complainant.
He said the couple and the two suspects who remain at-large are facing charges of grave coercion and obstruction of justice.
