‘1 group snatched 34 sabungeros’

MANILA, Philippines — Investigators are looking at one group as being responsible for kidnapping 34 cockfight players or sabungeros.

Col. Jean Fajardo, spokesperson for the Philippine National Police (PNP), said yesterday probers of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) looking into the cases of the missing cockfight enthusiasts have obtained leads on who might have ordered the kidnapping.

The Special Investigation Task Group Sabungeros, led by the CIDG, are interviewing people, she said in an interview with dzBB radio.

Fajardo said with the pieces of the evidence they have gathered so far, the eight cases they are handling involving the missing cockfight enthusiasts indicate “that one group may be responsible for 34 missing sabungeros.”

The PNP has also started receiving information on the possible whereabouts of six security guards implicated in the kidnapping of six sabungeros in Manila last year after the PNP issued a wanted poster featuring the guards’ photographs.

Fajardo urged people to report the whereabouts of suspects Julie Patidongan, Makr Carlo Zabala, Roberto Matillano Jr., Johnry Consolacion, Virgilio Bayog and Gleer Codilla.

The PNP is also coordinating with the suspects’ families to convince them to surrender.

Fajardo did not go into detail but she said they have another witness who could link the disappearances of sabungeros in Laguna in April and December 2021.