'Missing sabungeros' is case of enforced disappearance: group

Family members of the missing sabungeros call for justice during a media conference in Quezon City on July 14, 2025. Mark Demayo, ABS-CBN News

MANILA — The disappearance of "sabungeros" or cockfight enthusiasts is a case of enforced disappearance, a group said Thursday.

"For us, this is a case kagaya ng nangyari sa mga aktibista, [en]forced disappearance cases, at malaki ang participation ng state agents sa nangyaring krimen," said Ted Lazaro, spokesperson for Justice for Missing Sabungeros Network, which comprises families of missing sabungeros.

CHR says enforced disappearance continues despite law penalizing it

Enforced disappearances refer to the arrest, detention, abduction, or any other form of deprivation of liberty by state agents or by persons acting with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of the state, according to the UN Human Rights office.

'No sacred cows' in ongoing probe into missing sabungeros - DILG

It is "followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which [places] such a person outside the protection of the law," it added.

CONFESS

Lazaro, speaking on ANC, urged law enforcement agents to come forward and tell the truth about their participation in the crime.

"Batay sa CCTV footage, based on their experiences, mga pulis yung may kinalaman dito sa case, yung gumawa nung alleged na panghuhuli dun sa mga sinasabing nandadaya tapos di na ulit nakita itong mga taong ito," Lazaro said.

Missing sabungeros' kin demand justice, accountability; whistleblower urges Ang to confess

The House Quad Committee, which is expected to be revived in the 20th Congress, may look into the case of the missing sabungeros, according to a leader of the mega-panel in the 19th Congress.

Manila 6th District Rep. Bienvenido Abante, Jr. said among those who will possibly be invited to the House inquiry are whistleblower Julie Patidongan alias "Totoy", businessman Atong Ang, and representatives of law enforcement agencies.

Remulla: Authorities exhuming bodies as part of search for sabungeros

"Ang gusto lang namin, ipagpatuloy yung proseso, yung pag-iimbestiga para pasinungalingan kung totoo yung sinasabi ni alias Totoy, ni Mr. Patidongan," said Lazaro.

"One truth remains: 34 families yung nawalan ng mahal sa buhay at hindi magbabago 'yon. Hopefully, dahil sa renewed efforts to investigate these cases, mapalabas yung totoo," he added.

ONE MORE WITNESS

Lazaro said that aside from Patidongan, one additional witness is expected to file cases against the accused.

"May isa pang konsehal na magsasampa ng kaso laban sa mga accused," he said.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla assured the public on Wednesday that there will be "no sacred cows" in the ongoing probe into the missing sabungeros.

Fifteen police officers are under investigation over a spate of mysterious disappearances in 2022 in the Philippines' huge cockfighting industry.

Remulla said that all of the 12 active cops that whistleblower Patidongan mentioned in his complaint-affidavit are accounted for, except for 3 non-active personnel. 

The case erupted back into the public consciousness last month with the televised appearance of Patidongan claiming to know where bodies had been submerged in Lake Taal.

As many as 100 people were murdered over their alleged involvement in match-fixing, killed by police moonlighting for an online cockfight operator, according to Patidongan.

—With reports from Vivienne Gulla and Jeff Caparas, ABS-CBN News; Agence France-Presse 

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