Palace: No special treatment for Atong Ang

Malacañang on Wednesday said there would be no special treatment for businessman Charlie “Atong” Ang after the Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted him and 21 others in connection with the alleged abduction of several sabungeros or cockfight enthusiasts.

“On the part of the DOJ, mayroon po silang resolution mismo – resolution na nagpapakita ng prima facie evidence na mayroong reasonable certainty of conviction,” said Palace Press Officer Undersecretary Atty. Claire Castro in a press briefing when asked to comment about fears that Ang will be given special treatment.

(On the part of the DOJ, there’s a resolution stating that there’s prima facie evidence stating that there's reasonable certainty of conviction. So, it’s already in the hands of the court.) 

Castro said the case against Ang is now in the hands of the court.

“So, special treatment from the court? We cannot say that, we cannot speculate on that,” she added.

On Tuesday, the DOJ said Ang and 21 others were charged with 10 counts of kidnapping with homicide and 16 counts of kidnapping with serious illegal detention.

In a 120-page joint resolution, prosecutors found that the sworn confessions of whistleblower Julie “Dondon” Patidongan and his brother, Ellakim, established that Ang supposedly exercised command responsibility and active inducement over the alleged abductions from 2021 to 2022.

The resolution cited records that orders to apprehend “cheating” sabungeros came from Ang and that Patidongan would first report to Ang before any action was taken. 

Ang’s lawyer, Gabriel Villareal, said the DOJ's recommendation was “...deeply flawed and grossly unfair to the accused.” Ang’s camp will reportedly file a motion for reconsideration. — JMA, GMA Integrated News