Cases involving the missing sabungeros are being expedited as reports persist that some families were being offered settlement money, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said on Friday.

Remulla said the Department of Justice (DoJ) received reports that some of the relatives of the victims were offered settlement money, but it was not aware of the amounts.

“The state has taken a special interest in this case since this is an issue that concerns the country and our way of life,” Remulla said.

“What is important is this: a person with a lot of money cannot dictate who gets to live or die. We don’t have the death penalty in the country. If money dictates that, what will happen to our society? That’s why the state has taken interest in this,” Remulla said.

Meanwhile, the DoJ is fast-tracking the process to place whistleblower and co-accused Julie “Dondon” Patidongan in the Witness Protection Program (WPP) amid the probe into the missing sabungeros or cockfight enthusiasts.

“We want to hurry up the process so that we can put him in witness protection,” Remulla said.

A special fund will be used so that Patidongan can be closely monitored by a team dedicated to protect him and his family.

Remulla said Patidongan will be included in the WPP a few days after the request will be filed in the court.

He pointed out that Jose Patidongan, Dondon’s brother and also a suspect, has a pending sentence and the DoJ asked the latter’s lawyer to study the matter.

Remulla said Dondon Patidongan and another brother and also a suspect, Elakim Patidongan, had given their statements in the case of the missing sabungeros.

He said the important thing is that Elakim has given a statement and based on the two statements, the case is very strong.

“But Jose will still be very helpful in this matter. So we’re still working out many things so that he can give testimony here,” Remulla said.

There were a total of 34 cockfight enthusiasts reported missing from 2021 to 2022, and the police suspect they were kidnapped, allegedly for fixing matches and cheating in cockfights.

When Dondon Patidongan surfaced he claimed the victims had been dumped in Taal Lake.

Thereafter, Patidongan named businessman Atong Ang as the mastermind of the killings and linked actress Gretchen Barretto to the disappearances. Both have denied the allegations.

Multiple murder, serious illegal detention, enforced disappearance, direct bribery, and obstruction of justice were filed on 1 August against Ang and others.

Suspect’s lawyer seeks affidavits

The lawyer of a police officer implicated in the case has appealed to Philippine National Police Chief Nicolas Torre III to order the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) to submit to the DoJ the affidavits filed by 10 complainants against Dondon Patidongan.

Lawyer Bernard Vitriolo, the legal counsel of Police Staff Master Sergeant Joey Encarnacion, said that on 3 August 2025, he wrote a letter to the CIDG Chief Police Brigadier General Christopher Abrahano to request copies of the affidavits filed by 10 persons who were associates or employees of Patidongan.

According to Vitriolo, the affidavits were not included in the case folder or were not submitted to the DoJ for evaluative investigation.