On-line ‘e-sabong’ (cockfight) licensee Charlie ‘’Atong’’ Ang denied allegations that he could make a ‘sabungero’(cockfight afficionado) disappear for P5,000 for game fixing.
Ang made the denial before the Senate public order and dangerous drugs committee chaired by Senator Ronald dela Rosa following a statement from a witness, Alvin Indon of Tanay, Rizal on its probe on the missing 34 cockfight afficionado in Sta. Cruz, Manila; Sta. Cruz, Laguna; and Batangas last year and this year.
Physically held by a ‘’Don Don,’’ a person close to Ang, for suspicion of game fixing (disabling a fighting cock), Indon said he heard ‘’Don Don’’ a ‘’Boss A,’’ asking for directions on what to do.
Indon said he was told not to fight or else his group would not let him live.
‘’Boss A,’’ according to Indon, is Ang and that ‘’Don Don’’ told him that he made a mistake of going against ‘’Boss’’ which was like running into a rock.
Indon said he saw some of his town mates being brought out of the cockpit and that he was told to make a choice: ‘’kaso o buhay (criminal case or life).’’
He denied that his group were involved in ‘’nagteoteope’’ (disabling a fighting cock) just before a cockfight begins.
He said he chose ‘’kaso’’ which eventually led him to be charged with illegal drug possession in Laguna.
Ang had claimed that some of the other online ‘e-sabong’ licensees have conspired to put him down.
He also said that a group from Tanay, Rizal had raked in millions of pesos by betting mostly on a cock against its own fighting cock.
Another witness, identified as ‘’Arvie’,’ hooded and wearing a face mask, said he saw his friend and five others shoved by the security personnel of Manila Arena in Manila inside a van last January 13, 2022.
The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) of the Philippine National Police (PNP), has already filed charges against the suspects for the disappearance of the six cockfighting aficionados.
Dela Rosa assured the public that the committee would remain focused on its objectives even after Malacañang had declined to heed a resolution signed by 24 senators expressing the sense of the Senate strongly urging the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) to suspend the license to operate of "e-sabong" operators and to immediately stop all activities related to the game until the cases of the missing individuals are resolved.
“We use the resolution to make sure that we can shed light to this investigation. But since it was denied, we have to move on and we should not be distracted towards our main objective of this hearing which is to locate or possibly recover the living or the dead bodies of these 34 missing persons,” Dela Rosa said.