Ex-CIDG chief Macapaz faces complaint over sabungeros case

The National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) on Friday filed an administrative complaint against former Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) chief and now Police Regional Office (PRO12) director Police Brigadier General Romeo Macapaz.

This stemmed from the complaint-affidavit filed before the Commission on August 14 by brothers Julie “Dondon” and Elakim Patidongan, who were linked in the missing sabungeros case.

NAPOLCOM’s Inspection Monitoring and Investigation Service (IMES) filed the administrative complaint against the police officer before the  Commission’s Legal Affairs Service after finding “probable cause.”

“Nakitaan po namin ng probable cause to file an administrative complaint for grave misconduct at conduct unbecoming of a police officer against Police Brigadier General Romeo Macapaz,” IMES Staff Service Director Edman Pares said in a press briefing before the filing.

(We found probable cause to file an administrative complaint for grave misconduct and conduct unbecoming of a police officer against Police Brigadier General Romeo Macapaz.)

“So ito pong cases na ito will be forwarded and filed by us today after this briefing sa aming Legal Affairs Service,” he added.

(So these cases will be forwarded and filed by us today after this briefing to our Legal Affairs Service.)

GMA News Online has sought comment from Macapaz through the PRO12 public information office but it has yet to provide a statement as of posting time.

Dondon accused Macapaz of urging individuals to implicate him in the missing sabungeros case as the mastermind.

Macapaz in July said that they were still verifying information that there were cops who were trying to make Patidongan appear as the mastermind in the case. 

“Bine-verify pa po namin ‘yan kasi may order nga po ang DOJ na sila lang ang pwede magsalita for the moment. Linawin muna namin kung ano ang issue…” Macapaz earlier said.

(We're still verifying that because the DOJ has issued an order that only they can speak for the moment. We need to clarify the issue first.) 

Meanwhile, Elakim said his rights were violated when he was taken by Philippine authorities in Cambodia.

Dondon and the families of missing sabungeros on July 14 also filed a complaint-affidavit implicating 18 cops in the disappearances.

NAPOLCOM announced on August 4 that it has imposed a 90-day preventive suspension on 12 involved active police officers. Six other police officers have already been dismissed.

A total of 34 cockfighting enthusiasts have been reported missing from 2021 to 2022. According to the police, the missing personalities were kidnapped allegedly due to match fixing or cheating in the cockfighting games.

Patidongan claimed that the victims were buried in Taal Lake.

He named businessman Atong Ang as a mastermind in the case and also linked actress Gretchen Barretto to the disappearances. Both have denied the allegations.

On August 1, multiple murder, serious illegal detention, enforced disappearance, direct bribery, and obstruction of justice were filed against Ang, Barretto, and others. —LDF, GMA Integrated News