SIX security personnel of the Manila Arena have been identified by the PNP as among those involved in the kidnapping of six of the 31 missing “sabungeros” or cockfight players.
In a radio interview, PNP spokeswoman Col. Jean Fajardo said a “strong case” of kidnapping with serious illegal detention will be filed against the six security guards before the Department of Justice (DOJ) today.
Fajardo said the PNP complaint is anchored on the testimony of a “vital” witness and other evidence that will pin down the security personnel for the kidnapping of six victims, who have been identified as James Baccay, Marlon Baccay, Rondel Cristorum, Mark Joseph Velasco, John Claude Inonog and Rowel Gomez.
The six victims were allegedly abducted on January 13 this year.
Fajardo said the police witness saw how the suspects “forcibly took” the missing sabungeros who were boarded into a van that later left the arena.
“We have vital witness who executed a sworn statement, saying he personally saw how the six missing sabungeros were abducted and boarded into a van,” she said.
Fajardo said one of the missing sabungeros was able to talk to his father and said that “they are being held against their will and they were inside a van.”
“That’s the corroborating statement and we also have other evidence, technical evidence which I’m not privy to discuss until the case is filed,” said Fajardo, adding: “We believe that the case we are going to file is strong.”
President Duterte blamed some “evil men doing something wrong” for the disappearance of the cockfighters.
The President, at the inauguration of the Leyte Provincial Capitol and turnover of other government projects to the local government, reiterated the country stands to lose about P64 million a month if the e-sabong is suspended.
“It’s not the fault of the management. It’s the fault of evil men doing something wrong,” he said, adding that the police should be allowed to do its job of investigating and finding the missing cockfighters and bring to justice those behind their disappearance.
Duterte said among the angles in the disappearance is the involvement of some illegal syndicates and some issues about the bets.
Fajardo said investigators from the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) will file the case against the suspects before the DOJ today.
“We expect the case to be filed by the CIDG before the DOJ, in relation to the missing sabungeros from Manila Arena. We have identified eight possible perpetrators and six of them were identified by our vital witness who saw the abduction,” she said.
She added some of the suspects have already earlier appeared before the CIDG when they were summoned.
“As expected, they denied any knowledge regarding the missing sabungeros, particularly from the Manila Arena. Hopefully, once they are summoned by the DOJ, they are going to cooperate in the investigation,” she said.
