The House Committee on Justice has called out the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the National Police Commission (Napolcom) over its supposed lack of urgency to prosecute the perpetrators of the 34 sabungeros (cockfighting aficionados) who have gone missing since 2021. 

At least 62 individuals were named respondents in a complaint filed on 1 August by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group before the DOJ in relation to the missing sabungeros’ case, 18 of whom are police officers, DOJ Assistant Secretary Eliseo Cruz told lawmakers during the panel’s probe on Wednesday.

The respondents were slapped with seven charges, including, among others, violation of the Anti-Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act (RA 10353), Kidnapping and Serious Illegal Detention, and multiple counts of murder under RA 267 and RA 248, respectively, of the Revised Penal Code. 

However, Cruz said the case has not yet reached the court because it was only recently evaluated and found sufficient by authorities to trigger a preliminary probe. This, despite there is only a 10-day window for the DOJ to conduct evaluation processes once a complaint is received.

“As of now, the National Prosecution Service [has] submitted a certificate about the evaluation they had conducted—that the charges, witnesses, and the evidence are sufficient enough for the conduct of preliminary investigation,” Cruz said partly in Filipino. “Only after this, a resolution can be filed in the court.”

‘Justice delayed is justice denied’

Panel chairperson Bienvenido Abante Jr. asserted that the prolonged delay on the part of the DOJ deprives the victims of timely justice, considering that victims have been missing as early as 2021. 

Abante also implied that the case might have been sidestepped if the House hadn’t launched a probe into the issue. 

Cruz, however, countered that one of the factors contributing to the slow progress of the case is that the very whistleblower, Julie “Dondon” Patidongan, is among the principal accused in the case and is facing kidnapping charges along with Mark Carlo Zabala, Virgilio Bayog, Roberto Matillano Jr., Jonas ­Alingasa, and Johnry Consolacion. 

They were accused of kidnapping the sabugeros in San Pablo, Laguna, in August 2021, and in Manila Arena on 13 January 2022. 

Despite this, Cruz expressed confidence that Patidongan is credible to stand as a state witness. 

“[Although] it’s hard to say that he should be trusted because he is the principal accused in this case, he’s willing to tell the truth about what happened. Based on our investigation from the police, from the CIDG, until the DOJ, we consider this whistleblower to be a credible witness,” Cruz said. 

The formal application for the witness protection program for the whistleblowers, including Patidongan, is still in process pending the launch of the preliminary probe. Cruz, however, assured that Patnidongan is “very much secured” in the police custody. 

‘401 skeletal remains’

Amid the ongoing search for the missing sabungeros, at least 401 pieces of human skeletal remains have been recovered by the Philippine Coast Guard at 17 different locations from 10 July up to the present, according to Cruz. 

He said the recovered sacks “containing the human skeletal remains are usually tied to or attached to sacks of sand that served as sinkers,” which have the size of a 25-kilogram sack of rice. 

Philippine National Police Forensic Group Director PBGen. Danilo Bacas told the panel that of those recovered in Taal Lake, two were confirmed men, while one was a woman.

Cruz, however, said none of the recovered skeletal remains matched the DNA samples of relatives of the missing sabungeros. 

Dismissed cops

Of the 18 police officers implicated in the missing sabungeros’ case, with the highest ranking being a police colonel, six were already dismissed from service, while 12 are under preventive suspension and facing administrative charges before the Napolcom. This includes grave misconduct and conduct unbecoming of a police officer, among others.

Napolocom Commissioner Rafael Calinisan said that since they no longer hold jurisdiction over the six officers, who were dismissed in 2023 prior to the filing of the charges in the DOJ, they are already working on the latter for a criminal case buildup.

Meanwhile, apart from administrative cases, Calinisan bared that the same officers linked to missing sabungeros were also subject to multiple cases but were already exonerated.

At present, the number of missing sabungeros remains at 34, recorded in eight incidents in 2021 and 2022. This figure, however, represents only the minimum, according to Cruz, suggesting that the actual number could be higher, citing records from the PNP.

E-sabong was originally regulated by PAGCOR until it was suspended in May 2022 by former president Duterte, following a recommendation by the Department of the Interior and Local Government, citing serious societal harms. 

As of 2025, over 52,000 e-sabong sites have been taken down, 43,984 of which were shut down early as 2023, according to the Department of Information and Communications Technology.