The camp of Charlie “Atong” Ang welcomed the decision of the Department of Justice (DOJ) to summon the businessman and 17 others in connection with the ongoing investigation into the cases of missing sabungeros, saying it will finally give them opportunity to formally dispute all the allegations made by whistleblower Julie “Dondon” Patidongan.
Ang’s spokesperson, lawyer Gabriel Villareal, said the start of the preliminary investigation marks a crucial step toward addressing the accusations in the proper forum.
“We meet with guarded optimism the news regarding the formal commencement of the preliminary investigation into the case of the so-called ‘missing sabungeros’,” Villareal stated.
“We welcome the opportunity to respond frontally to the accusations which have since been shrouded in innuendo and unsubstantiated claims by Julie ‘Dondon’ Patidongan,” he added.
Villareal asserted that Patidongan has a clear motive in implicating his client and should instead be the one explaining his own role in the disappearances of the cockfighters.
Ang’s camp had earlier denied Patidongan’s claim that Ang orchestrated the kidnapping of the missing sabungeros.
Patidongan previously alleged that some of the victims’ bodies were dumped into Taal Lake in Batangas, although search and recovery operations have yet to yield substantial evidence.
According to Ang’s camp, Patidongan’s accusations appear to be a strategic move to avoid imprisonment for his own involvement in the incident.
Villareal advised Patidongan to prepare for the legal proceedings ahead.
“The time for reckoning has come. In time, the truth about the one truly responsible for the disappearances of the ‘missing sabungeros’ will come out,” Villareal said. (Aaron Recuenco)
