Remulla meets with families of missing sabungeros

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Friday met with the families of missing sabungeros.
 
"Basically, it’s a dialogue that happens every month so that they can turn to somebody for this problem of having 34 missing people,” Remulla said in an ambush interview at the Department of Justice.
 
According to the justice secretary, the families were relieved during the meeting because they did not want to be “abandoned.”
 
“The worst that can happen is for the law to abandon people who are trying to get justice. Dapat talaga ongoing ang process of obtaining justice sa bansa natin. That’s why we go to work every day,” he said.

Remulla said the department has already raised P5 million of the P6 million reward that was promised to anybody who could help locate the six individuals linked to several missing sabungeros.

“Well, the P6 million is coming from friends. We have P5 million on hand; we need one more million, but it’s there,” he said.

He said that if necessary, the P1 million would be charged to taxpayers.
 
When asked if they had not received any information even after the government offered a bounty, Remulla said there had been some information sent to the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, but it was not accurate.
 
“We just have to wait this out and then just go to work every day until something turns up. Pero may active investigation na ongoing naman,” he said.
 
In January, the DOJ filed kidnapping and serious illegal detention charges against farm manager Julie Patidongan, Gleer Codilla, Mark Carlo Zabala, Virgilio Bayog, Johnry Consolacion, and Roberto Matillano Jr.

This was in connection with the disappearance of John Claude Inonog, James Baccay, Marlon Baccay, Rondel Cristorum, Mark Joseph Velasco, and Rowel Gomez.
 
The sabungeros left Tanay, Rizal, at 1 p.m. on January 13, 2022, for Manila Arena but were forced to board a gray van at around 7:30 p.m. — VBL, GMA Integrated News