Witness identifies 6 suspects in Manila's missing sabungeros; CIDG to file complaints

A witness identified six suspects in the disappearance of cockfight enthusiasts at Sta. Ana's Manila Arena, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) said on Friday.

At a hearing of the Senate's Committee on Public Order and Dangerous Drugs, CIDG Director Police Brigadier General Eliseo Cruz said a witness implicated 14 persons in the disappearances.

“There are 14 persons involved in this case that the witness implicated, and he positively identified six suspects, and eight are still unidentified,” Cruz testified.

According to Cruz, a vital witness claimed that he saw security personnel of the Manila Arena put the missing sabungeros in a vehicle on January 13.

“A vital witness gave his statement that he saw how the victims were held and loaded by the security personnel of Manila Arena in a gray van parked at the basement of the said arena,” he said.

Cruz added that the witness was in a safe and secure environment guarded by the CIDG.

According to Cruz, the CIDG would file kidnapping and serious illegal detention complaints against the six suspects.

“We are now filing appropriate cases against the identified six persons in Manila Area and we'll be filing kidnapping with serious illegal detention admissible under Article 267 of the Revised Penal Code,” he said.

Meanwhile, on the case of the sabungeros who went missing in Sta. Cruz, Laguna on January 13, 2022, Cruz said they were readying a manhunt operation against a person of interest who withdrew money from the ATM account of a missing sabungero at a bank in Lipa City, Batangas.

“Despite being missing, bank withdrawals from the ATM account of one of the victims, Melbert Santos, was recorded at BDO Lipa City Branch and is now being investigated by the CIDG,” he said.

“The person captured in the CCTV footage who withdrew money using the said ATM account is considered as one of our persons of interest and subject for manhunt operations by the CIDG,” he added.

According to Cruz, the CIDG is handling six cases of disappearances involving 31 sabungeros: one case in Manila, four in Laguna, and one in Batangas.

On the case of six missing persons whose last known whereabouts was the Royal Octadome in Lipa City on January 6, 2022, Cruz said the CIDG had two persons of interest.

There were also two persons of interest in the disappearance of five cockfight enthusiasts whose last known whereabouts was the Sta. Cruz cockpit arena on December 9, 2021.

In the case of six missing sabungeros whose last known whereabouts was the same arena on May 11, 2021, Cruz said investigators were looking into one person of interest.

Meanwhile, on the case of the disappearance of four people whose last known whereabouts was the Sta. Cruz arena on April 28, 2021, Cruz said the police filed an obstruction of justice complaint against an individual and were looking at three other persons of interest. — DVM, GMA News