2 cops relieved for alleged interference in missing sabungeros case

MANILA, Philippines — Two police officers were relieved from their posts for allegedly interfering in the case of the reported kidnappings of cockfighting aficionados (sabungeros).

The relieved officers—a police lieutenant and a police major—are accused of facilitating unauthorized meetings between the complainants and the police officers implicated in the sabungeros case, who are detained at the Philippine National Police (PNP) Custodial Center in Camp Crame.

The police lieutenant and the police major were relieved from their posts on May 20, according to a special order from the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) and an incident report from the Headquarters Support Service (HSS).

READ: Napolcom: Missing sabungeros complainants file case vs 2 cops

An administrative case was lodged by the sabungeros case’s complainants against the two police officers before the National Police Commission (Napolcom) on Wednesday.

The complainants identified the police lieutenant as HPG spokesperson Lt. Nadame Malang and the police major as PNP Custodial Center officer-in-charge Maj. Reynaldo Pañebe Jr.

Malang has yet to respond to the Inquirer’s request for a statement, while Pañebe was not immediately reachable for comment.

In a press briefing in Camp Crame on Thursday, HPG director Brig. Gen. Rommel Batangan said Malang had been asked by three individuals to take them inside the PNP headquarters and to the custodial center.

He did not immediately identify the three individuals who asked Malang to escort them into Camp Crame.

Batangan, however, maintained that Malang did not enter the custodial center.

At the briefing, HSS director Brig. Gen. Manuel Abrugena said Pañebe had explained to them that he was unaware that the individuals taken to the custodial center were the complainants of the sabungeros case.

Abrugena noted that they have yet to secure closed-circuit television footage of the PNP Custodial Center from the agency’s Communications and Electronics Service.

Leading the briefing, PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Randulf Tuaño explained in Filipino the relief orders: “We’re not saying our two personnel are guilty. But, it’s a matter of SOP [standard operating procedure] or our processes.”

“We did their immediate relief so that it wouldn’t affect the ongoing investigation, both criminal and administrative, of the two offices we mentioned,” it added.

The complainants also alleged that they were contacted by gambling tycoon Atong Ang’s camp, purportedly encouraging them to speak with the police officers detained at the PNP Custodial Center.

Several of the original complainants in the sabungeros case had withdrawn after supposedly beginning to receive P40,000 every month, according to the complainants.

Ang is wanted over kidnapping charges in connection with the reported kidnapping and killing of at least 34 sabungeros who allegedly cheated in his games between 2021 and 2022. /jpv