Atong Ang out of PH? DOJ chief cannot confirm

Justice Secretary Fredderick Vida on Wednesday said he cannot confirm reports that businessman Atong Ang, the alleged mastermind in the disappearance of several sabungeros, has left the country.

Vida said there is no record of Ang leaving from the Bureau of Immigration.

“So I cannot confirm that he is already of out the country kasi we will rely based on what we have on immigration records. And based on immigration records, wala kaming record that he left,” he said in an ambush interview.

(So I cannot confirm that he is already out of the country because we will rely on what we have in our immigration records. And based on immigration records, we have no record that he left.)

This came after Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said that Ang left the country through the “backdoor” or non-official means.

He said he is not aware of Remulla’s source of information.

Meanwhile, when asked how the DOJ prosecution is handling the cases, Vida said the DOJ will continue pursuing the cases.

“Because of the nature nung case, these are murder cases, no, we pursue our mandate. Our prosecutors pursue trying the case. We continue to present the relevant pieces of evidence that we can before the court,” Vida said.

“Although we see these as challenges, we don’t see this as fatal to the case. We still continue with the prosecution of the case,” he added.

READ: Who is Atong Ang?

Atong Ang is facing charges for kidnapping with homicide, as well as kidnapping and serious illegal detention before the courts of Sta. Cruz, Laguna, Lipa, Batangas, and San Pablo, Laguna. —VAL, GMA News