Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla announced on Thursday that the bounty for the arrest of gambling businessman Atong Ang has been raised to P20 million.
Ang is facing kidnapping charges before courts in Laguna and Batangas in connection with the disappearance of at least 34 cockfighting enthusiasts, or sabungeros, between 2021 and 2022.
“We are increasing the bounty for Atong Ang to P20 million for information that will lead to his arrest. We are serious about this,” Remulla said during a press briefing in Quezon City.
He added that the reward will be sourced from confidential funds allocated to the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for such cases. “There’s no ‘Chippy’ or ‘Piattos’ here,” Remulla said, referring to the alleged use of fictitious names in confidential fund receipts linked to the Office of the Vice President.
Whistleblower Julie Patidongan, also known as Totoy or Dondon, has identified Ang as the alleged mastermind behind the kidnappings and claimed that the missing sabungeros were killed and their bodies dumped in Taal Lake.
Patidongan also alleged that Ang fled to Cambodia prior to the issuance of an arrest warrant, prompting Remulla to dispatch a liaison officer to verify the claim. However, the Cambodian government said over the weekend that Ang was not in the country.
“We are studying it. We really believe he’s still here in the Philippines. We have points of interest,” Remulla said, declining to elaborate on the department’s leads.
“If you’ve killed a hundred people, if you’ve kept a billion pesos and you think you won’t be held accountable to the law, your day will come. You will have to face your wrongdoing,” he added.
Ang’s camp has previously questioned the arrest warrants, describing them as “premature” and “legally questionable.”