Atong Ang not in Cambodia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs says

Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said that businessman Atong Ang is not in the country amid the Interior and Local Government's "raw information" on the businessman's whereabouts. 

In a statement posted on their official Facebook page, Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that their spokesperson is officially confirming that Ang had not been in Cambodia and they have no official records of his entry or exit in the country.

“According to an official report from the Immigration General Department of the Ministry of the Interior of Cambodia, there is no record of Charlie Tiu Hay Ang’s entry or exit at any Cambodian border checkpoints,” the statement read.

“This clarification is issued to dispel recent media reports suggesting that Charlie Tiu Hay Ang may be hiding in Cambodia, while a team of Philippine police officers had been dispatched to search for him,” they added.

In a message to GMA News Online on Saturday, Remulla said that they will be taking Cambodia’s word regarding Ang’s presence in the country.

“We will have to take their word for it. The information that Atong ang was in Cambodia came from Julie Patindongan, the star witness in the missing sabungeros case,” Remulla said in a message to GMA News Online.

He also emphasized that the police will continue their search for Ang.

“All elements of the PNP are actively searching for him.  Justice will be had for the 100 plus missing sabungeros,” he added.

Arrest warrants have been issued against Ang and others, stemming from multiple counts of kidnapping with homicide and kidnapping and serious illegal detention in connection with the missing sabungeros case.

GMA News Online has also reached out to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) for comment on Cambodia's statement about Ang. —Jiselle Anne C. Casucian/ VAL, GMA Integrated News