The families tangled up in that missing cockfight enthusiasts case are now saying they’re the ones getting shaken down, not the other way around.

Two women linked to the case are denying claims they got a little something from the camp of a businessman with sabong ties, in exchange for dropping their complaint against him.

Their story: They reached out to his lawyer first, not the other way around. They said they knew the lawyer from her pandemic-era vlogs, and it turned out they also shared a connection through some nuns who used to be the lawyer’s students. Convenient, or just Manila being Manila?

Then there was a meeting where the lawyer allegedly handed over some cash. The missing sabungero relatives swear it was just financial help, not a payoff. But apparently one member of their own group decided to call it a bribe, and that’s when the whole thing blew up.

Plot twist: Now that same group is accusing the missing persons’ relatives of pocketing a big payout from the businessman’s camp, while they fired back that it was actually the accusers who’ve been angling for a fat out-of-court settlement all along.

So who’s really cashing in on whom?