Cops identify person of interest in disappearance of Bulacan cockfighters

CALUMPIT, Bulacan –The police have identified a person of interest who they believe might have information on the disappearance of five Bulacan residents after supposedly having attended an “e-sabong” event in Batangas province last month.

Calumpit police chief Colonel Wendel Arinas on Saturday revealed the development in the ongoing investigation but did not elaborate as search continues for the missing cockfight players. The Calumpit police are leading the search in coordination with its Batangas counterpart and the Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG).

On Jan. 6, Edgar Malaca, 50, a councilman in Barangay San Jose; Alexander Quijano, 50, also from San Jose; and Atong Sacdalan, 37, a resident of Hagonoy town were reported missing after they told their respective families they are going to Lipa City.

Malaca’s group left Calumpit before 11 p.m. in a rented van. They intended to drive to the Laguna town of Cavinti to buy game fowls before proceeding to Batangas, Arinas said.

On Jan. 5, brothers Jeffrey and Nomer Depano, also from Hagonoy town, reportedly also did not return home after proceeding to Lipa.

The Depano brothers were driven to Batangas in a separate van, which was found abandoned on Jan. 7 near a bridge at this town’s Barangay Corazon along the MacArthur highway.

Clothes were still inside the vehicle when police searched it, but they did not find any identification cards among the belongings.

Among the clothing was a pair of pants worn by Malaca.

Malaca’s sister, Ederline Liam, said they were certain her brother and his companions arrived safely in Lipa based on tickets and other documents they found in the pants pockets.