-
Photo courtesy of Senate of the Philippines
Authorities have yet to locate gambling figure Charlie “Atong” Ang despite conducting 10 raids last week as part of an intensified manhunt, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said.
Ang faces multiple arrest warrants issued by three separate courts in connection with the disappearance of at least 34 cockfighting enthusiasts, or “sabungeros,” between 2021 and 2022.
“We conducted 10 raids last week. All the sites we went to yielded negative results,” Remulla said in a radio interview on dzBB on Tuesday. He declined to disclose the locations of the operations.
“But our manhunt continues. We will eventually find him,” he added.
The Philippine National Police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), which is spearheading the search, has previously indicated that efforts were focused in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon and the Bicol Region.
Remulla reiterated that authorities believe Ang remains in the country, dismissing earlier reports suggesting he had fled to Cambodia. Cambodian officials had denied such claims earlier this month.
On Feb. 12, the Department of the Interior and Local Government increased the reward for information leading to Ang’s arrest to P20 million. The move followed the issuance of a warrant by a Regional Trial Court in San Pablo, Laguna, charging him with kidnapping and serious illegal detention.
Judge Luvina Roque of the San Pablo RTC Branch 29 also ordered the arrest of five police officers allegedly linked to the sabungeros’ disappearance.
Earlier, on Jan. 13, the Sta. Cruz, Laguna RTC issued four separate warrants against Ang and 17 others. Three of the warrants covered 15 counts of kidnapping with serious illegal detention, while the fourth involved four counts of kidnapping with homicide.
Two days later, a Regional Trial Court in Lipa City, Batangas, issued arrest orders against 15 individuals, including Ang and six civilians, for kidnapping with homicide.
Of the 21 coaccused, all are reportedly in police custody except for Ang, who remains at large.