Palace: We won't allow 'big names' linked in heinous crimes escape justice
Gaming tycoon Charlie 'Atong' Ang (Santi San Juan)
The government will not allow a powerful individual implicated in a heinous crime to evade justice, Malacañang said.
Palace Press Officer and Communications Undersecretary Claire Castro made the statement when asked about the government's confidence in holding fugitive businessman Atong Ang accountable over the case of missing "sabungeros."
It came after Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Jonvic Remulla said whistleblower Dondon Patidongan informed authorities that Ang may be hiding in Cambodia under a false identity.
"So, kung ito po nangyayari ngayon na isang malaking tao ay nasasangkot sa ganitong klaseng karumal-dumal na krimen hindi po pababayaan ng gobyerno na hindi managot ang mga taong dapat na managot sa hustisya (So if this is happening now—where a powerful individual is being implicated in this kind of heinous crime—the government will not allow those who should be held accountable to escape justice)," Castro said in a Palace briefing on Thursday, Jan. 22.
She stressed that the Marcos administration has been closely monitoring the case of missing sabungeros.
"Unang-una po, dito pa lamang sa atin sa Pilipinas sa panahon po ni Pangulong Marcos Jr. hindi po nakaligtas itong issue tungkol sa missing sabungeros. Pinatutukan po iyan; at noong panahon po ni DOJ Secretary Boying Remulla, hindi po ito pinakawalan (First of all, even here in the Philippines under President Marcos Jr.’s administration, the issue of the missing sabungeros was not ignored. It was closely monitored, and during the time of DOJ Secretary Boying Remulla, it was not allowed to be swept aside)," Castro further said.
Ang is currently carrying a P10 million bounty after he went into hiding when the court issued an arrest warrant against him for cases of kidnapping with homicide and kidnapping with serious illegal detention.