Atong Ang accuses Laguna police chief of being part of conspiracy vs. him

Gaming tycoon Atong Ang on Monday accused acting Laguna Police Provincial director Police Colonel Rogarth Campo of taking part in the conspiracy against him by other online sabong stakeholders.

During the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs’ third hearing on the missing cockfighting enthusiasts, Ang questioned the witnesses from Tanay, Rizal who are giving statements on the disappearance of several “sabungeros.”

“Bakit laging taga-Tanay ang lumalabas na testigo ngayon e buong PIlipinas ang sumasali sa amin, may mga taga-Mindano, kung saan saan?” Ang said during his presentation at the Senate hearing.

(Why are these witnesses all from Tanay when participants in our derbies come from different parts of the country, even from Mindanao and other parts of the country?)

He then mentioned a meeting which he attended with Campo, who was then the director of the National Capital Region Police Office-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group; the Anti-Cybercrime Unit; and the National Bureau of Investigation in his office in Mandaluyong.

The conference was apparently held after Ang’s camp was told to write the CIDG to formally request police assistance for the investigation of the cases of alleged “cloning” or the duplication of videos from the e-sabong platform to illegally solicit bets from patrons.

During the said meeting, Ang said Campo offered to just “abduct” the persons involved in the said cloning.

“Nu'ng kami ay nag-uusap... itong si Col. Rogarth sabi niya ‘Boss, gusto mo dukutin na lang namin e.’ Puwede ninyo siya tanungnin at saka ‘yung NBI andito si Atty. [Emeterio] Dungallo, kaharap 'yung mga tao ko,” he said.

(When we were talking, Colonel Rogarth said "Boss, do you want us to just abduct these persons." You can ask him as well as the NBI. Atty. Dungallo is here, you can ask him as well as my employees.)

Apart from this, Ang also mentioned another encounter with Campo in Lipa where the former gave P1 million to the police official after the latter showed pictures of a building being constructed in PNP Laguna.

Ang said he was surprised when Campo told him to claim credits on the construction of the said infrastructure.

“May pinakita siya na mga pictures hindi ko maintindihan e…na opisina na pinapagawa niya roon ang sabi niya ‘Sir, boss, tingnan mo 'yung mga picture na pinapagawa kong ganito.’ Magbi-birthday pa siya n’on saka magbe-blessing ata ng opisina ata na 'yon,” Ang said.

“Nagulat ako sa sinabi niya sabi niya na ‘Sir, baka imbitahan namin kayo d'on birthday ko tapos at the same time may blessing don tapos sabihin mo sa mga tao ikaw ang gumastos d’on ikaw ang nagpagawa.’ Nagulat ako sabi ko ‘Bakit mo ko tuturuan magsinungaling?’” he added.

(I was surprised when he told me "Sir, we wanted to invite you because it's my birthday and at the same time there will be a blessing of the office. Tell the people that you were the one who financed its construction." I was surprised and I asked him "Why do you want me to lie before them?")

Just to end the conversation, Ang said he just gave P1 million to Campo.

“Sino ba ang nasa likod ni Rogarth?” he asked as he questioned Campo’s intention for inviting him to attend the "ribbon-cutting" ceremony.

(Who are the people behind Rogarth?)

“Ano purpose noon? ‘Di ko alam. Ngayon, nakita ninyo naman na tinatrabaho ako 2019 pa, pati bahay ko pinagbabaril na. Ngayon, sino ang nasa likod nito wala akong iisipin matino akong tao e siyempre kalaban ko sa negosyo,” Ang added.

(What's the purpose? That, I don't know. Like what I told you, they have been operating against me since 2019. Even my house was peppered with bullets. Who are the people behind this? I cannot think of anyone but my business rivals.)

“Malalaman ko naman sino mga nag-o-operate. So alam ko. Kung nandito lang sana sila ituturo, talagang maipapaliwanag ko talagang sila ang nag-o-operate e,” he said.

(I can easily identify these people. If they are here, I could name them and I could explain why I believe they are operating against me.)

He again mentioned names of his supposed business rivals including Congressman Arnie Teves.

Teves, who is present in the hearing, said he is not a licensee of e-sabong operations and he is friends with Ang.

According to Ang, Teves also explained to him that he no longer holds a license for e-sabong operations.

“Sila congressman ang pagkakakilala ko... sila Cong. Patrick Antonio, I don’t think na sila ‘yan na baka planuhin nila ako. Si Bong Pineda, siguro, maybe, dahil sa power niya, sa pera niya, hawak niya ang presidente, hawak niya ang pulis, wala akong magagawa don. Wala akong koneksyon sa pulis e,” Ang said.

(I don't think Cong. Patrick Antonio is operating against me. Bong Pineda, I think so, because he has the power, the money, he holds the president, the police. I can't do anything about it. I don't have connections with the police.)

“Sila General (Camilo) Cascolan na Class 86, na kakilala ko rin naman, classmate ninyo pa po ata, hindi ko masasabi na sila pero sino may connection dito? Sino nagu-utos kay Rogarth para kausapin ako na ganyan tapos lalabas ang mga testigo mga taga-Tanay,” he went on.

(I could not tell if General Cascolan is also operating against me but who has the connections here? Who is ordering Rogarth to talk to me like that and then here are the witnesses from Tanay.)

Senator Ronald dela Rosa, chair of the committee, explained to Ang that most of their witnesses are from Tanay because there are 10 sabungeros from the said municipality who went missing.

“So, ‘yon ang question ko, bakit si Rogarth, si Colonel Campo, siya ngayon ang PD diyan, lahat ng ebidensya sa Laguna nanggagaling, saka sa Tanay, pano nangyayari 'yan? Siya rin ang nagpupumilit na isabit ang mga pulis,” he claimed.

(That is my question. Why are these pieces of evidence coming from Laguna and Tanay. Colonel Campo is the provincial director there. He is also the one insisting on the involvement of other policemen.)

With the “serious allegations” being raised by Ang, Senator Francis Tolentino sought Campo's side.

The police official denied that he is part of the conspiracy against Ang nor he is affiliated with Pineda and Cascolan who were mentioned in the hearing,

Campo, upon the interpellation of Dela Rosa, explained that it was Ang’s e-sabong firm that requested assistance from the NBI and the CIDG which led to the meeting with the gaming tycoon and his staff in Mandaluyong.

He said former CIDG director Albert Ignatius Ferro was also informed of the request and the operation was delegated to him as he was then the chief of the CIDG-NCR.

However, Dela Rosa pointed out that Ferro, during the first Senate hearing, claimed that he was not aware of any CIDG operation related to the case of Ang’s firm.

“After the police operations that we have conducted, an entrapment operation, we have submitted a spot report and development report na may huli po kami nakasuhan ginawan po namin ng spot report at addressed po ‘yon sa director ng CIDG kaya hindi pwedeng sabihin na hindi nila alam sir,” Campo said.

On the other hand, the acting Laguna police director said he cannot recall that he offered Ang to abduct those who were allegedly involved in the said cloning of the latter's e-sabong firm.

“Hindi ko na po matandaan kung nasabi ko pero kung may nabitawan po akong salita, hindi ko matatandaan pero nagkaron po kami ng case conference meeting together with the Anti-Cybercrime, with the NBI, sir,” Campo said.

(I could not recall if I stated those words but we had a case conference meeting together with the Anti-Cybercrime, with the NBI, sir.)

But Dela Rosa was not convinced with Campo's answer, noting saying words like that “cannot just easily slip by your mind.”

The senator then asked Campo if he claimed that Ang was lying.

“Hindi ko po matatandaan lahat, sir... kasi after our case conference pinag-usapan namin noon, sir, together with the Anti-Cyber Crime with the NBI, nag-sharing kami, ito ang target within NCR, sa amin NCR-CIDG napunta ang target na involved sa cloning kasama doon ang Anti-Cybercrime,” Campo said.

(I cannot recall everything, sir...because after our case conference where we talked about the targets within the NCR, these targets involved in cloning were referred to the CIDG NCR.)

At the latter part of the hearing, Ang told the panel that they could ask the NBI, as well as his employees who were also present when Campo made the offer, to confirm his claim.

“Your honor, ang sinasabi na selective ang utak niya sabi niya hindi matatandaan na sabi n'yang dudukutin, kaya ang daming accomplishment na nahuli kasi hindi ako pumapayag sa ganyan. Kung sinabi niya na hindi niya matandaan na sinabi niya pwedeng tanungin ang NBI dito baka narinig, ang mga tao ko kasi lahat narinig e,” Ang insisted.

Still, Campo said his statement might be just a “slip of the tongue.”

“Kasi sir, kung didiretsuhin ko 'yung sinasabi ni Mr. Atong Ang na dukutin, e di sana ginawa ko na sir e bakit pa kami nanghuli? Nanghuli po kami,” Campo said.

Dela Rosa then pointed out that Campo cannot state that he possibly offered to abduct those who were allegedly behind the cloning as the disappearance of the "sabungeros" is the reason there are investigations being conducted.

“Hindi puwedeng sabihing posible, posible kasi nga meron tayong hinahanap ngayong 34 na tao kaya very crucial 'yang statement mo na pagdudukutin na lang ang mga ‘yan dahil nga may hinahanap tayong 34 na tao,” Dela Rosa explained.

(You cannot just say that you possibly said that because we are now looking for 34 persons. That's why your statement is very crucial because we are looking for 34 missing persons.)

In response, Campo said he was no longer involved in the other operations after they had the meeting with Ang and other law enforcers.

Meanwhile, on the issue of asking Ang to lie about the construction of a building in PNP Laguna, Campo said he just wanted to acknowledge that the e-sabong operator had extended help to his office.—AOL, GMA News