Kin of missing cockfighters deny taking bribes, blame third party

MANILA, Philippines – Several relatives of the missing sabungeros (cockfighting enthusiasts) have revealed that Julie Patidongan has been egging them to extract money from the camp of businessman Charlie “Atong” Ang. In a joint sworn statement submitted before the Department of Justice (DOJ) Friday, 19 relatives of the missing sabungeros said Patidongan has continuously told them that they could receive a huge sum of money in exchange for not pursuing this case because, according to him, Mr. Ang is very rich and he knows where Mr. Ang’s money was hidden. Believing what Patidongan has said, the families admitted that when they first met Atty. Cruz, they requested “P50 million per group which will be divided to P5 million per member.” But they made it clear to Atty. Caroline Cruz of the Pitmaster Foundation that “the idea and suggestion to ask for a huge amount of money came from Mr. Patidongan. Atty. Cruz promptly denied the request, explaining that the foundation lacked the capacity to grant such sums. In a separate filing, Cristy Ladao, Jocelyn Dela Cruz, and Eloisa Bohol also denied allegations that they accepted bribes from Ang’s camp in exchange for dropping their kidnapping and serious illegal detention charges. Ladao, whose live-in partner Johnver Francisco disappeared in 2021, said her meetings with Atty. Caroline Cruz of the Pitmaster Foundation were sought purely for humanitarian assistance. “In fact, Atty. Cruz never asked for anything in exchange for the help she gave us,” Ladao said in her counter-affidavit. Another respondent, Eloisa Bohol, aside from her counter-affidavit, submitted private chat logs showing that complainants, also relatives of missing cockfighters, were the ones who wanted to secure a lump-sum demand. The respondents maintained that the prosecution of the kidnapping case against Ang remains active and that they have never been coerced or incentivized to back down. The cases have already been filed in court, and warrants for Ang’s arrest have already been issued.