MANILA, Philippines — The police officers allegedly involved in the case of 34 missing sabungeros (cockfighting aficionados) were also linked to the previous administration’s war on drugs, according to whistleblower Julie “Dondon” Patidongan (alias Totoy).
Patidongan’s revelation came after he filed a complaint against 12 of the 15 police officers tagged in the missing sabungeros’ case. He was asked why these policemen were tapped to reportedly abduct and kill the cockfighters and if they were linked to other illegal activities before.
“Police Lieutenant Col. Ryan Jay Orapa was introduced to me when he was still a Major by Col. Malinao because Col Malinao was a friend of Engineer Celso Salazar. They were close. It all began there,” Patidongan said in Filipino.
“They were the individuals tasked to kill people during the war on drugs before. That’s it,’ he added.
Salazar, along with Charlie “Atong” Ang and Eric Dela Rosa, is among the alleged masterminds named by the whistleblower.
Orapa and Malinao, on the other hand, were among the 12 police officers named in the complaint affidavit Patidongan lodged before the National Police Commission on Monday afternoon.
Last month, Patidongan claimed that the 34 missing sabungeros were buried in Taal Lake, Batangas.
He was one of the six security guards accused of abducting the cockfighting enthusiasts. The whistleblower also revealed that they used a tie wire to purportedly strangle the victims before dumping their bodies into the...
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