Reports surfaced Thursday that fugitive gambling operator Atong Ang may be in Cambodia, prompting Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla to say the authorities were validating the information.
Remulla said, however, the government remains confident that Ang is still in the Philippines.
“There is information that he is in Cambodia, but that’s raw information. He had set up online sabong operations in Cambodia,” Remulla said in a radio interview.
Remulla said the authorities were working on the cancellation of Ang’s passport to prevent him from traveling.
President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., he said, may request the Cambodian government to arrest Ang if the report is confirmed.
“If his passport is canceled, our President will be the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nation) chair. He can request it from his fellow president, or king, I think, in Cambodia,” Remulla said.
He cited the case of former Negros Oriental Rep. Arnolfo Teves Jr. who was arrested in Timor-Leste in May 2025 in connection with the killing of former Negros Oriental governor Roel Degamo.