Atong Ang filed motion to suspend proceedings with San Pablo court — DOJ

Businessman Charlie “Atong” Ang has filed a motion to suspend the proceedings of his kidnapping with homicide and kidnapping with serious illegal detention cases over the missing sabungeros with a San Pablo regional trial court (RTC), Justice spokesperson Polo Martinez said Friday.

“We inform the public that the issuance of a warrant of arrest was deferred by the court following by a motion to defer or suspend proceedings by the accused,” Martinez said at a media briefing.

Ang is facing charges before the courts of Sta. Cruz, Laguna; Lipa, Batangas; and San Pablo, Laguna. Of the three, only the Sta. Cruz RTC Branch 26 and the Lipa RTC Branch 13 have issued arrest warrants against him.

According to Prosecutor General Richard Fadullon, the court is asking the DOJ to submit its documents on the case, including the respondents’ counter-affidavits.

“Tayo ay mag co-comply. Mag co-comply tayo para tignan natin kung once we comply, that will be sufficient basis already for the court to come up with a determination whether it should issue a warrant or not,” he said.

(We will comply. We will comply so that we can see if once we comply, that will already be sufficient basis for the court to come up with a determination of whether it should issue a warrant or not.)

Fadullon said that whatever action the court will take, he said the DOJ will also take steps.

“What these steps are, we cannot disclose right now,” he said.

Meanwhile, Martinez said that Ang’s trial has commenced in Sta. Cruz and Lipa.

READ: Who is Atong Ang?

Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla has announced a P10-million reward for information leading to the arrest of Ang. Remulla has said that Ang’s connections with various levels of government is the biggest obstacle to his arrest. — RSJ, GMA Integrated News