In a significant development in the missing sabungeros case, the government will present a witness who claimed to have seen first-hand the execution of 10 cockfight aficionados.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla revealed that the brother of whistleblower Julie Patidongan, Elakim Patidongan, will be presented as a key witness to incriminate gamling tycoon Atong Ang in the case.

Elakim, who is under police custody after he was arrested in an undisclosed Southeast Asian country, will be one of the witnesses in the murder and serious illegal detention charges filed against Ang and several others.

Actress Gretchen Barreto, whom Remulla described as “Jane Doe,” will be included in the complaint.

The Department of Justice (DoJ) secretary said Julie Patidongan’s testimony served as the basis for the formal complaint filed by the victims’ families.

Remulla acknowledged the significance of having a witness embedded within a criminal organization.

“It’s rare for us to have a witness who was highly placed and embedded in a criminal organization. This is very rare. I think it is the first time in Philippine history that we have something like this,” Remulla said.

“We have a whistleblower for the actions of a criminal organization. And I think we should appreciate the fact that he is bravely coming out to do this. His help here is significant to us,” he added.

Main personality

Remulla pointed to Ang as the “main player” in the e-sabong (online cockfight) operations.

“He’s the main player in e-sabong, he is the main player there, he is the boss of Totoy or Don-don. His money is used to pay for the work done by the police contractors,” Remulla said.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) confirmed that Elakim and another brother, Jose Patidongan, were arrested abroad and brought back to the Philippines on 22 July.

Elakim was allegedly caught using the ATM card of Melbert John Santos, who went missing in Laguna, while Jose was seen in a video escorting a handcuffed victim, Michael Bautista.

Remulla met with Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Police General Nicolas Torre III to commend him for agreeing to his request to relieve a service commander from the case.

He clarified that the service commander was not removed for suspected involvement in the disappearance of the sabungeros, but due to a breach of trust. “He did something that I didn’t like,” Remulla said.

The service commander is not among the 12 cops who are accused of being involved in the case.