Atong Ang, Gretchen Barretto being evaluated as suspects – DOJ
COMPLAINT FILED. Businessman Charlie “Atong” Ang (3rd from left) accompanied by his legal counsel, lawyer Lorna Capunan (2nd from left), files a formal complaint at the Mandaluyong City Prosecutor’s Office on Thursday (July 3, 2025) against Julie Patidongan, alias Totoy, who implicated him in the missing cockfighting aficionados case. Ang denied all allegations against him. (PNA photo by Avito Dalan)
MANILA, Philippines – Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said Thursday businessman Charlie “Atong” Ang and actress Gretchen Barretto would be investigated after they were implicated in the case of the missing “sabungeros” (cockfight aficionados).
In an interview with reporters, Remulla said the two personalities would be included in the investigation of the Department of Justice (DOJ) after Julie Patidongan, alias Totoy, tagged Ang as the mastermind behind the abductions and linked Barreto to the disappearances.
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“They will be included. Because they were named, then we will have to include them as suspects,” he said.
“That will be evaluated by our group of fiscals, who will be assigned to evaluate all the evidence so that we will know what cases to be filed properly.”
Ang maintained his innocence as he filed a complaint against Patidongan before the Mandaluyong City Prosecutor’s Office on Thursday morning.
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He claimed that Patidongan and another former employee threatened to implicate him in the missing sabungeros case if he refused to give them PHP300 million.Meanwhile, Remulla said experts are still planning how to go about mapping the bed of Taal Lake following Patidongan’s claim that the remains of more than a hundred persons, including the missing sabungeros, were dumped there. (PNA)
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