Missing sabungeros whistleblower under PNP protective custody —Torre
'Si 'Totoy' nasa protective custody namin siya sa ngayon,' PNP chief Police General Nicolas Torre III said in a press briefing.
('Totoy' is in our protective custody right now.)
'But he's already applying for the Witness Protection Program dahil kapag siya ay nag-qualify i-turn over namin siya sa Department of Justice. Sa ngayon naman, madali na 'yun. Na kay [Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin 'Boying' Remulla] na ang final say d'yan sa kaniyang protection,' he added.
(But he's already applying for the Witness Protection Program and when he qualifies, we will turn him over to the Department of Justice. Right now, that's easy. Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin 'Boying' Remulla has the final say on his protection.)
Meanwhile, the 15 cops whom the whistleblower recently implicated in the disappearances of the missing sabungeros are under restrictive custody at Camp Crame in Quezon City, according to Torre.
'Marami sa kanila nasa support units. May mga nasa region. May mga nasa [area police commands]. Iba-ibang mga units sila. Lahat sila active except for one na due for retirement at tatlong dating na-dismiss,' Torre said, referring to the assignments of the 15 cops.
(Many of them are in support units. Some are in the region. Some are in the APC. They are in different units. They are all active except for one who is due for retirement and three who were previously dismissed.)
Seven cops allegedly involved in the abduction of the cockfighting enthusiasts were initially dismissed from the service as early as January 2023.
Torre said some of the 15 cops in restrictive custody were included in the alleged up to P2 million monthly payola from Atong Ang, who was among the supposed masterminds in the disappearances as claimed by the whistleblower.
According to the PNP chief, the police are looking into more personalities possibly involved in the case and their possible locations.
A total of 34 cockfighting enthusiasts have been reported missing from 2021 to 2022. According to the police, the missing personalities were kidnapped allegedly due to match fixing or cheating in the cockfighting games.
The whistleblower claims that the victims were already buried in Taal Lake.
However, Torre said the police are also checking other alleged 'disposal areas' of the missing sabungeros. He added that they received information that some sabungeros were burned. —AOL, GMA Integrated News
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