By: Tita C. Valderama
After years of stalled inquiries, shifting testimonies and political push-and-pull, the law appears to be closing in on the influential gambling and cockfighting tycoon Charlie “Atong” Ang, one of the Philippines’ most powerful figures, with decades of rumored clout to influence people at the top of the Philippine power structure, including the former head of the Philippine Judges Association, appellate and Supreme Court justices and former President Rodrigo Duterte. The Department of Justice is expected to file multiple criminal cases over the disappearance and presumed killings of dozens of cockfight bettors who allegedly ripped him off between 2021 and 2022 and ended up in sacks at the bottom of the scenic volcanic Lake Taal 70 km south of Manila. The 67-year-old Ang, long feared and favored in the gambling world but nonetheless linked to a parade of Filipino actresses, was once jailed in the Philippines’ biggest plunder case involving former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada but escaped punishment, as he has a host of other alleged offenses. He is nonetheless poised to face some of the most serious charges filed against him yet. Actress Gretchen Barretto, named as a person of interest alongside Ang, sparking controversy and denials of a romantic relationship, escaped indictment. Courts in Batangas and Laguna are expected to issue arrest warrants soon for Ang and more than 20 others, including 15 police officers allegedly linked to abductions that, investigators say, ended with as many as 109 bodies being dumped into the 198-meter-deep lake. Police divers spent weeks earlier this year combing the lake bottom for the bodies.
The saga of the missing sabungeros, who take their name from sabong, the Filipino term for cockfighting, has been one of the most perplexing criminal mysteries of the last decade. Between 2021 and 2022, at least 34 men linked to online sabong operations vanished without a trace. That number later ballooned to 108, according to witness Julie “Dondon” Patidongan—though investigators have not publicly embraced that figure. Most of the men were last seen at cockpit arenas or farms controlled by Ang’s online sabong company, Lucky 8 Star Quest, during a time when online cockfighting operated with little oversight and extraordinary profits. The cases have long been tied to alleged game-fixing and cheating in online sabong, a multibillion-peso industry that exploded during the Covid-19 pandemic, drawing both regular bettors and minors as derbies were livestreamed nationwide. The Senate held multiple hearings. Police formed task forces. The Department of Justice conducted preliminary investigations. But for a long time, no one was charged. Until now. In a 120-page resolution released December 9, the DOJ announced it had found sufficient evidence “with reasonable certainty of conviction” to charge Ang and his co-respondents with 10 counts of kidnapping with homicide and 16 counts of kidnapping with serious illegal detention. Twenty-six charge sheets are expected to be filed across three courts: the Regional Trial Courts of Lipa City (Batangas), Sta. Cruz (Laguna), and San Pablo City (Laguna). The DOJ panel relied heavily on the testimonies of brothers Julie “Dondon” and Ellakim Patidongan, former close-in security personnel of Ang. Investigators said their accounts established a pattern of operations involving Ang’s farm, Ang’s personnel, and specific police officers. Julie, the whistleblower whose statements reopened the investigation into the missing sabungeros, has been admitted as state witness along with his brother Ellakim following the dismissal of Ang’s countercharges against him (Julie) for robbery-extortion, grave threats, grave coercion, slander, and incriminating an innocent person. The resolution cited Ang’s alleged “command responsibility” and described his actions not as passive acquiescence but as “direct supervision of the scheme.” According to Julie Patidongan, he routinely sought Ang’s approval before any victim was turned over to police associates. The DOJ has meanwhile cleared the 55-year-old Barretto, finding insufficient grounds to charge her. She had been tagged by state witness Julie Patidongan as part of an alleged “Pitmaster Alpha Group,” a circle of supposed insiders linked to the e-sabong operations. But in its resolution, the DOJ panel said the accusations against Barretto and the others were “speculative and uncorroborated,” concluding that the evidence did not meet the threshold for indictment. Defense calls key witness ‘dubious’ Ang’s legal team sharply criticized the DOJ ruling, calling the Patidongans’ accounts unreliable. Lead counsel Gabriel Villareal denounced the resolution as “flawed and unfair,” saying they plan to file a motion for reinvestigation. Villareal argued that it was “anomalous” for the Patidongan brothers to escape indictment despite allegedly being involved in the abductions themselves. He accused Julie Patidongan, once Ang’s farm manager and friend of 15 years through Ang’s cockfighting operations and farms, of manipulating the narrative to divert blame. “Clearly, the panel relied heavily on the flawed testimony of a lone witness whose integrity is irreversibly compromised,” Villareal said. A witness with his own legal troubles The Patidongan brothers are not without baggage. Before the DOJ resolution, Julie Patidongan and five others were already facing six counts of kidnapping and serious illegal detention before Manila RTC Branch 185, in connection with the disappearance of six sabungeros in January 2022. Ang earlier alleged that Patidongan had attempted to extort money—charges the witness denies. Online sabong was suspended in May 2022 amid mounting security incidents. The Senate conducted hearings that painted a murky picture of possible collusion between gambling operators, private security, and rogue police officers. A tycoon long trailed by controversy Ang’s name has appeared in scandals for more than two decades ranging from jueteng, the illegal Filipino numbers racket, small-town lottery control, and jai-alai operations to high-profile romantic controversies. He was jailed in connection with Estrada’s plunder case and later admitted to conspiring with Estrada, once a phenomenally popular movie star, to divert millions in excise taxes. The 13th President of the Philippines from 1998 until his removal from office in 2001, Estrada was sentenced in 2007 by a special division of the Sandiganbayan which has jurisdiction over criminal and civil cases involving corrupt practices and other offenses committed by public officers and employees, to reclusión perpetua, which carries a maximum sentence of 40 years, under a charge of plunder for embezzling US$80 million from the government but was later granted a pardon by the president and his former deputy, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Ang fled the Philippines on the same day Estrada was ousted during the Second People Power Revolution (EDSA II) but was arrested by the FBI in Las Vegas, Nevada, in November 2001, following an extradition request from the Philippine government. He was held under house arrest for several years while awaiting extradition proceedings. He was returned to Manila to face charges and in 2007 pleaded guilty to the lesser offense of corrupting public officials, returned ₱25 million (US$423,975 at current exchange rates), and was sentenced to probation. His civil rights were restored in 2009 after he successfully completed his probation. In 2017, Ang accused then Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II and National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon of wanting him dead over jai-alai operations—claims both officials denied. Even as reports of the disappearances emerged, former President Rodrigo Duterte resisted calls to halt online sabong, citing its ₱640-million monthly revenue for the government. He reversed course in May 2022, ordering its suspension due to its social costs. In December 2022, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. issued an executive order permanently affirming the suspension and directing agencies to crack down on illegal online sabong operations nationwide. The DOJ’s move marks the most serious legal development yet in a case that has tormented dozens of families seeking accountability. Whether courts will issue arrest warrants—and whether Ang and the accused police officers will be taken into custody—remains to be seen. But for the first time since 2021, families of the missing sabungeros may now be closer to the truth. This is among the stories/excerpts we choose to make widely available.If you wish to get the full Asia Sentinel experience and access more exclusive content, please do subscribe to us for US$10/month or US$100/year.
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