Gov’t to Continue Probe on Missing Sabungeros Cases Despite Family Non-Cooperation

MANILA, Philippines — The government will independently pursue the missing sabungeros cases despite the lack of active cooperation from the victims’ families, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said. Justice Undersecretary Raul Vasquez said on Thursday, September 23 that the hearing on criminal cases against the accused individuals in the case will proceed in Quezon City courts despite reports that some families have withdrawn and stopped cooperating. “The truth of the matter is, tuloy-tuloy ‘yung kaso. ‘Yung tatlong kaso na nasa Quezon City ngayon, nasa trial stage na ‘yan. Nagpe-presenta na ng ebidensya ang ating prosecutors,” Vasquez said in an interview with dzMM. (The truth of the matter is, the cases will proceed. The three cases that are currently in Quezon City are already on the trial stage. The prosecutors are now presenting evidences.) Cases of kidnapping, serious illegal detention and homicide are filed against business tycoon Atong Ang and several police officers for allegedly killing dozens of sabungeros, or cockfighting enthusiasts, who went missing between 2021 and 2022. On Wednesday, September 23, Prosecutor General Richard Anthony Fadullon said most of the families of the victims are disappearing one by one. In the case filed in Santa Cruz, three family members were presented as witnesses, but two of them eventually stopped cooperating with the DOJ. In Lipa and San Pablo, the victims’ families are no longer coordinating with their private counsel. “Initially, nandoon ‘yung kagustuhan, pagpupursige, na ma-file ‘yung kaso, at akala nga namin, mabubuhayan ng loob na ipagpatuloy despite the fact na merong ibang naunang umatras. Napansin namin na unti-unti nawawala na ‘yung mga complainants, at totally hindi na nakikipag-usap at nakikipag-ugnayan sa amin,” Fadullon said. (Initially, the desire and determination to file the case were there, and we thought they would be encouraged to proceed despite the fact that there are others who withdrew. We noticed that the complainants are gradually disappearing and they are totally not coordinating with us anymore.) Vasquez explained that the cases filed against the accused individuals are public crimes that do not necessarily require the participation of the victims’ families as private complainants. The justice undersecretary added that, unlike private crimes that require the cooperation from the victims for the case to proceed, public crimes like kidnapping and kidnapping with illegal detention can be pursued by the government independently. “Those are crimes against the state, and therefore, they can be prosecuted even in the absence of private complainants,” Vasquez said. The families’ noncooperation, however, might affect their ability to pursue civil damages or financial claims from the accused. Vasquez said prosecutors are confident that they have sufficient evidence to pursue the cases. Vasquez mentioned that there is also an ongoing preliminary investigation into alleged obstruction of justice complaints against the legal team of Ang. In late May, Ang’s lawyer Caroline Cruz was accused of bribing the families of some victims with monthly financial assistance in exchange for their absence during court hearings. Cruz denied any wrongdoing, saying that the families of the victims reached out to her first. Vasquez said that while families of the victims did not provide specific reasons behind their noncooperation, their sudden withdrawal could be attributed to the alleged obstruction of justice committed by Ang’s camp. “‘Yung aspetong ‘yon ay inaaral pa base sa ebidensya kung meron bang obstruction of justice laban sa mga abogado na sinasabi nila ay gumawa ng paraan para hindi na tumuloy ‘yang mga pamilyang ‘yan,” Vasquez said. (That aspect is being studied based on evidence, if there is any obstruction of justice against the lawyers who they accused of taking steps to discourage the family.)