‘One life is too many’ (Sabong News)

THE Philippine National Police (PNP) is beginning to crack the brazen abduction and disappearance of at least 31 cockfighting aficionados, as it assured the families of the victims they would get the justice that they deserve. The assurance was made by PNP chief General Dionardo Carlos and other police officials as the Senate began its probe on Thursday into one of the most audacious abduction cases that the police organization has faced yet, perhaps in its entire history. The 31 sabungeros, according to accounts, were kidnapped in groups in eight separate incidents since May last year. But the abductions only cropped up a few weeks ago after the same pattern and the same general description of the victims were established in those who were seized starting in early January. As reported by the PNP, and confirmed during the hearing of the Senate Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs chaired by Senator Ronald dela Rosa—former PNP chief himself before he was elected as senator—all the victims disappeared after attending cock derbies. THE cockfights were recorded and carried online for “e-sabong,” a flourishing, but controversial, multibillion-peso game of chance that is eclipsing the traditional and original arena-based cockfighting. The sabungeros—from Bulacan, Manila and Laguna—all went in groups on separate dates in cockpits in Santa Ana in Manila, Lipa City in Batangas and Santa Cruz in Laguna where they were “held” after the cockfight sessions before they seemed to have vanished into thin air. Lucky 8 Starquest Inc. is operating the three arenas where cockfights were being held and beamed online by WPC Pit Master. Both Lucky 8 and Pit Master are owned and operated by game tycoon and businessman Charlie “Atong” Ang. The kidnapping and eventual disappearance of the victims and the manner the investigation initially moved perplexed even the senators, especially dela Rosa, noting that the cases were not hidden at all from people, including from the victims’ helpless relatives. Dela Rosa was infuriated for a number of times while steering the hearing, and was even dismayed that the kidnappings and subsequent disappearances of the sabungeros have to occur so many times, with some at the same cockpit arena in Laguna. IT did not help that lawyer Angelo Nino Santos, president of one of Ang’s firms who represented the management during the hearing, said that the management does not know what’s happening inside the cockpit arenas. The lawyer also admitted that the cockpits that they operate do not have CCTVs, a requirement in the grant of licenses of e-sabong operators as disclosed by the state gaming agency, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor). While Santos said that they are already in the process of installing CCTVs in the three arenas, the statement of one of the relatives of the victims rebutted the absence of the vital visual monitoring equipment. Senate President Vicente Sotto III, who also attended the hearing, was apparently peeved that no one seemed to be talking although the kidnappings may have been carried out in the presence of the arenas’ security personnel who were the ones who held the victims before they disappeared. The wives, fathers, mothers and siblings of the victims admitted they feel very helpless, resigned and in a quandary over the cases and what fate may have befallen their missing relatives, since they were not getting anything, including information, even from personnel maintaining the cockpit arenas. They testified one by one before dela Rosa’s committee and in tears recalled what transpired before and after their family members disappeared, sharing details and passed on information from other relatives, and even reading from the exchanges that they had with some of the victims. The family members are desolate, in despair and even afraid. “I AM afraid. We want to live normally. It’s too heavy to carry,” the wife of one of the missing victims, Melbert John Alcantara Santos, told the committee. “Until now, we do not have any idea of where they are, we don’t know anything,” said the weeping pregnant wife of Santos. The victims were either tasked to carry the fowl to the arena, the designated gaffer or the driver of the group, and nearly all were on their first job at the e-sabong in cockpit arenas operated by Ang. The cases of the missing sabungeros were unlike the usual kidnappings. The family members are informed that their relatives are being held at the arenas, asked to come over and talk about their release, only to be given a runaround or even a blanket denial of their knowledge of the missing persons’ whereabouts. While there have been existing records and passes were also issued for the victims’ entry into the cockpit arenas, there are no records showing or proving that they left the facilities. In the case of the six sabungeros who disappeared on January 13 this year after attending stag derbies at the Manila Arena in Santa Ana district, they were apparently taken to Tanay, Rizal, where a white Toyota Tamaraw FX that they used was recovered the following day. Based on the footage that the PNP showed during the hearing, the vehicle left the arena, escorted by four other vehicles. The plate numbers or conduction stickers of the cars are already being ascertained with the help of the Land Transportation Office. The father of one of the victims, John Claude Nonog, even got to talk to his son before he and the members of his group vanished. The father narrated during the hearing that he was talking to his son by phone and was hearing another man asking his son who he was talking to. “My son’s reply: my father,” the elder Nonog recounted. A moment later, the line went dead, which prompted him to go to the arena and ask the security guards to show him his son. The elder Nonog was at the basement of the facility, which he said was the “dropping” and “loading” area. The same pattern was used in the cases of other groups of missing sabungeros: their relatives knew that they were being held by some arena personnel but when their family members arrived to see or check on them, they were nowhere to be found or have been taken away. Regardless of the reasons why the sabungeros are being held or made to disappear, dela Rosa said “one life is too many,” and they are not even talking of only a single life, but 31 people. During the hearing, Ang’s name cropped up after one of the victims’ relatives recounted that the four sabungeros, including Santos, who disappeared from the arena in Laguna, were being allegedly held by the “men of Ang.” Senator Panfilo Lacson, also a former chief of PNP,  expressed confidence that the cases would not be too hard to solve given the leads that the police already have at hand. At one point, the two ex-PNP chiefs, Lacson and Dela Rosa, took turns questioning the current chief, Gen. Dionardo Carlos, about the steps taken by police probers. The presentation by the PNP’s Criminal Investigation Detection Group (CIDG), represented by its head  MGen. Alberto Ignatius Ferro, indicated that several vehicles were used in each apparent abduction, and Dela Rosa could not help but repeat his observation that the men operated with precision and swiftness, indicating they were highly trained. He had earlier held out the possibility that rogue ex-soldiers or ex-cops were involved. When Santos said the YouTube video showing Ang’s rant against fraudsters in the e-sabong operations—for example, those hacking the licensed e-sabong enterprises to create a fake website that was drawing in millions in bets—was just a “reminder” for the public not to be duped, Dela Rosa wondered aloud, “a reminder, or reminder/threat [to e-sabong workers]?” The next hearing was set for next Thursday, March 3. Meanwhile, the mystery deepens and families wait. Image credits: ,