OVP spox Castelo on Atong Ang: We remain friends, but I'm no longer his lawyer

Office of the Vice President (OVP) spokesperson Ruth Castelo said Wednesday her lawyer-client relationship with Atong Ang—the businessman tagged as a mastermind in the case of the missing sabungeros or cockfighting enthusiasts—already ended in 2009.

Castelo, the recently appointed spokesperson of the OVP under Vice President Sara Duterte, admitted that Ang was her client in 2007 for the crime of plunder. Back then, Ang was named co-accused in the plunder case filed against former President Joseph Estrada.

"We went on probation, we succeeded in seeking for probation, and he was given a two-year period. So in 2009, I released him from the Bicutan where he stayed… He was released because he already complied with all the conditions set by the probation officer," Castelo said. 

The OVP spokesperson also emphasized that she had not been involved with any of Ang's activities since he was released in 2009 from Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig City where he was detained.

"And as soon as he was released from Bicutan in 2009, that was the end of our lawyer-client relationship. [I] was never his lawyer again. We remain friends, yes, but his own activities, his endeavors and businesses, I have nothing to do with it anymore," she added.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla on Monday said some people who have been involved in the "death squads" that figured in the drug war under the Duterte administration may also be involved in the deaths related to the e-sabong or online cockfights during the pandemic.

One of the accused in the abduction of some of the cockfighters, Julie "Dondon" Patidongan, said that the victims were killed on the days they were taken.

Some of the recovered bones from Taal Lake during the search for missing sabungeros were human remains, according to Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Police General Nicolas Torre III.

Patidongan has named Ang as a mastermind in the case and linked actress Gretchen Barretto to the disappearances. Both have denied the accusations. — VDV, GMA Integrated News