“You’ve ratted me out too, Totoy. When was the last time you spoke to Atong Ang?”

“I last talked to him when he was already begging me. He messaged me around seven days ago. He was texting me, saying we needed to talk in a hotel. He said we should fix things because he was having a really hard time. I still have those last text messages where he was pleading with me. He can’t deny that. If you want, I can read them to you so you’ll have an idea.”

“Alright, just make sure there’s nothing improper…”

“It’s okay, I just want to say this, Totoy. Go ahead and expose it so everyone knows—he tried to have me killed for 50 million pesos. That’s why I had the courage to speak out. I told myself, what’s the use of that money if I get killed? And then the families of the missing cockfighters would lose someone who could expose the truth.”

The investigation into the missing cockfighters continues to deepen, involving billionaire Atong Ang and actress Gretchen Barretto as persons of interest. Three lawmakers have also been dragged into the case: one senator and two congressmen, along with a group of police officers and several influential individuals.

Authorities have also begun searching Taal Lake, where the missing cockfighters were allegedly dumped. According to the latest update, there is hope that some of the victims’ bones might be recovered. After Atong Ang and Gretchen Barretto were implicated, netizens spotted them at the airport, allegedly trying to flee the Philippines. Here are the full details.

But before we continue, don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe—and click the notification bell for more updates and upcoming videos. Thank you!

[At the Senate Hearing]

“Mr. B, earlier Mr. Ang claimed you were lying about being a small-time player and not involved in e-sabong, but it turns out you were part of a group that won millions. What can you say about that?”

“First of all, Your Honor, we can review my initial testimony. I never denied knowing Julius. But the question asked was whether Julius Havillo had any involvement with my team regarding the fight at Manila Arena. I already stated in the first hearing that Julius was not relevant to us.

Secondly, I don’t even know Julius Havillo’s two brothers. Those siblings are WPC members. I never said I didn’t know Julius. Let’s go one at a time, Your Honor.”

“That’s true. You also said earlier that Mr. Atong claimed you lied about not being involved in sabong, yet you own a farm.”

“Yes, Your Honor. I never denied owning a farm. I also never denied knowing Julius. It would be absurd to claim I don’t know him—we live in the same barangay. And yes, I’ve worked for 19 to 20 years as VIP security for a politician, and I’ve long been a farm owner. Even before e-sabong existed, raising and fighting roosters has been my hobby.”

“Alright, thank you. Any news on your son?”

“None yet, Your Honor.”

“Please continue with the update on RV.”

“Sure, sir. Jojo, or Mr. Section, is my compadre. His son is my godson, so when he asked to borrow someone from my team, I agreed. But the person he borrowed was not RV—it was RV’s brother. I asked the brother if he could go, but he declined. So RV went instead to help Jojo.”

Then he asked me, “Can you open the vault?” I said, “I don’t know the password.” Only his secretary knows it. Then he asked me to point to ‘B’. I said, “I really don’t know.” Who? Who is Roy? Mr. Roy Barbaret. Yes. He was asking me to open the ‘B’.

I said, “I don’t know the password.” I even remember his eyes, his height. So, four of us were able to identify him. Even my nephew—he also took me. That man. He was the one with me when we were brought into the room. It’s just strange.

They knew exactly what to take from the house. They targeted our room first. How did they know? Every single item was taken, even our photos. They even stabbed the piggy bank. All our belongings—there were eight of us in the house—they took everything. Even my wallet and the hidden money inside it, they left nothing.

They also took my bag, my IDs, they even stuffed the cellphones in my bag. My God, they involved so many people. I don’t know anymore. Yes, sir. Four women identified you. Yes, sir. You entered the house and took Jun Lasco. And earlier, two siblings also pointed to you.

What a coincidence. Do you really think you can convince me? Yes, sir. Huh? Do you really think you can convince me that you had nothing to do with this, that this is a separate case? Four people pointed at you, and now two siblings—whom you charged with drugs—also identified you. That’s no coincidence. What’s your rank? Patrolman, sir. How many years have you been a patrolman? Going on seven, sir. Ten years? Seven, sir. Seven years. Yes, sir.

What’s your assignment since you graduated as a policeman? Intelligence, sir. All your work has been intelligence? Yes, sir. Since after recruit training, you were in intelligence right away? I started as a mobile driver, sir. Then transferred to intelligence. Yes, sir. So you’ve been in intelligence for 7 years? No, sir. Around 5 years.

DJ was a recruit, right? Yes, sir. Honor, sir. I’m going blank now. Okay, sir. General Cruz? Yes, sir. In light of six testimonies, what do you plan to do? As I said earlier, we’ve taken statements from these witnesses and we’re preparing to file the appropriate case before the DOJ. Of course, we are still gathering more evidence.

I spoke with PNP Chief Pimpo before he left for an important national meeting. He said the action to take with these PB personnel is to transfer them to Camp Crame so CIDG can conduct a deeper investigation. That’s what he said. You can’t arrest them now because it’s been too long. You can’t inquest anymore, so you’ll have to do regular filing.

How many cases have you filed? How many accused in the case you filed with the DOJ? Sir, for this case, we have not yet filed because we’re still investigating. Okay, what about the Manila Arena case? For that, we have already filed a case. So for this one, nothing filed yet? Yes, sir. Probably in the coming days.

Okay. What else can you share? Are you only relying on Barete’s identification? Actually, I spoke up when the warrant was issued. We all knew what the suspect’s body looked like. He was the one who got out of the car. That’s how we identified him from the picture—they showed us a photo of Mr. Paghangaan.

Paghangaan? Where is Paghangaan? Stand up. What did he do? We all gave photos. We had no doubts when we identified him. You pointed him out? Yes. I also showed the picture to the housemaid. Same reaction. I just hope that after 7 months, he finally speaks up. We want to hear from him because there was someone giving orders.

That’s what we thought—based on his height and body build. I hope he can speak now, Senator. Yes. Paghangaan, sit down. How long have you been a cop? 12 years, sir. Rank? PSSg—Police Staff Sergeant. Long in intelligence? Transferred around. Sometimes mobile driver, sometimes intelligence.

How long were you in PB? Almost 1.5 years, sir. Thank you. How do you remember? How did you identify him? When I reported to San Pablo Police, it’s in the report that I could identify him. At that time, he took off his mask. When you suddenly see someone face-to-face, you remember. Like what happened with Honey.

When they showed me the picture, I recognized him. Everyone else got nervous too, even my sibling cried. Why are we all pointing at the same person? We really want to see him in person and hear him speak—so we can remember better.

What did he say? What did he say about the warrant? He just held up a piece of paper. Said, “We’re from NBI.” Okay. Mr. Chairman, what’s his name? Mr. Paghangaan, sir. Arganan? Paghangaan.

Stop Sergeant Paghangaan. Where were you on August 30? Sir, on August 30, 2021, I was delivering soap in Pila, Laguna. I have a receipt here. The timestamp on our text conversation is 9:16 AM, August 30. Detergent powder. I still have the phone, I didn’t delete the texts. Here’s the receipt—August 30, 2021.

We included not just the singing photos or the PNP’s photos of this former PB personnel, but we also showed a greater number of pictures. According to our team leader, we presented 28 photos to ensure that we weren’t forcing the witnesses to identify anyone. What we first found out was that Princess, without any hesitation, pointed to Sergeant Paghangaan, whom she had not mentioned earlier—possibly due to hesitation or fear.

By instinct, Princess identified Sergeant Paghangaan. As the director of CIDG, I don’t want to speak about a case without firsthand information from the witnesses. That’s why I personally spoke with all these witnesses in my office to obtain information directly.

We observed their reactions while they were identifying photos or suspects in front of us, to morally convince investigators that their identifications were likely valid. It’s rare for four helpless women to consistently identify police officers as those who harassed them after the investigation.

That’s our basis. I’ll also add that when they visited my office, we even included them in a case conference in our meeting room. And consistently, Princess identified Sergeant Paghangaan. That’s our foundation for ensuring we didn’t make a mistake in taking subsequent steps in establishing probable cause against the persons identified by the witnesses.

So regardless of what the accused police officers say, we will proceed with filing the case because we believe the witnesses are credible, they are victims, and they are the complainants. We are now preparing to file the proper case before the DOJ, after which the preliminary investigation will be conducted, leading to the resolution, then hopefully the issuance of a warrant of arrest so we can apprehend the suspects. Hopefully, sir, we’ll succeed in filing these cases in court. Thank you, General Cruz. Very laudable work.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Yes, go ahead, General. You might have forgotten your internal services, and perhaps NAPOLCOM as well—are you relying only on the DOJ?

I’m sorry, sir. We will automatically coordinate with the Internal Affairs Service of the PNP to file the corresponding administrative case.

Thank you. May we now excuse the resource persons?

Thank you. Thank you very much.

Abelino, earlier you mentioned that you have full trust in your team because of their hard work, especially in the war on drugs. As long as they work within the bounds of the law, I commend them.

But even so, once they step outside the law, they are accountable. That’s why I go back to your command responsibility as the chief of the provincial intelligence branch. You should know your men. If they do something wrong, you should have acted immediately. If you had done something when the first wrongdoing happened, maybe these later incidents wouldn’t have followed.

I don’t know how you’re controlling your people. How did your personnel get involved in two cases already? This is just advice, officer to officer. I used to hold your position too—as intelligence chief and as ARTO. We should monitor our people. Even though we can’t watch them 24/7 because they have their own lives, as commander, you should take the initiative to monitor their activities.

Thank you.

For the next round of questioning, I’d prefer a specific batch of nonrelated but connected agencies—not directly tied to the missing sabungeros. I’m referring to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, DTI, GCash, PayMaya, PAGCOR, and the Games and Amusement Board. Let’s handle them in one go. But let’s finish this topic first, Mr. Chairman.

This is important. My goal here is to strengthen our laws because the purpose of this investigation is to craft legislation. That’s our job. What laws do we need to enact, amend, or revise? If existing laws were sufficient and implemented properly, this wouldn’t have happened.

I’ve said during previous hearings—there are gaps in the law. That’s where all this stems from. This is a legislative inquiry. It is our duty as senators to pass remedial laws to address our constituents’ needs and prevent this from happening again.

That is our sacred duty here. And part of your committee’s job is to find out who should be held accountable and bring justice to the families of the missing.

That’s all, Mr. Chairman.

At the appropriate time, if we have time in the investigation, I will ask questions to the agencies I mentioned earlier. If I may, I believe I’m the only one who hasn’t eaten yet. Mr. Ang hasn’t eaten either. May I eat for a bit in the back? I’ll come back—I won’t leave.

Yes. Thank you, Senator Tolentino. While they’re here, let’s finish the CIDG update and then dismiss them. Then we can seat PAGCOR, the BSP, DOJ, the nonbank entities—PayMaya and GCash—and who else? I’m so hungry I’m forgetting names.

We’ll include DTI—the Department of Trade and Industry. Thank you.

Any more updates?

So far, sir, the positive updates we have are from two out of the eight cases we’re handling. The CIDG continues to backtrack and gather more evidence and witnesses to solve the cases. Finally, the Philippine National Police assures the Filipino people, the victims’ families, and this honorable committee that the investigation will not stop until justice is served.

That’s all from the CIDG, sir. Thank you.

Before we rearrange the seating, I’ll bring up Case No. 7—the one at Shell Gas Station in Meycauayan, Bulacan. Here is Ms. Chrisa, the common-law wife of Janver Francisco. Ma’am, please have a seat. The Commission on Human Rights personnel who documented her statement—is CHR here?

Please take your seats. Thank you.

CHR and NBI, please also stand. Ma’am, sir—you testified last hearing, right?

Yes.

You swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth in this investigation?

Yes.

Please take your seats.

Ms. Chrisa, you are the common-law wife of Janver Francisco, who was abducted at the OP Shell gas station in Meycauayan, Bulacan?

Yes.

Did you give a statement to the Commission on Human Rights?

Yes.

Can you share it with us?

[Translation continues in next message due to length limit.]

[Translation Continued – Testimony of Chrisa, wife of missing Janver Francisco]

Chrisa: On April 18, he told me he was going out to buy food for us—this was at 5:45 p.m. Then around 7:30 p.m. on April 18, I noticed that his bank account was being drained. It was losing money. He also included some details—he entered a message on the withdrawal that said “hugot” [pulled out].

Q: What was Janver Francisco’s occupation?

Chrisa: He was a gold agent in online sabong.

Q: And when he didn’t return that evening?

Chrisa: He didn’t come home that night. On April 19, I told his mother he hadn’t come home. When she asked about it, he replied saying he was just busy. He even sent a photo of himself, claiming he was handling something. Then on April 20, a vendor approached me and told me that he had been abducted on April 18 around 5:45 p.m. at Shell station in Meycauayan, Bulacan.

So I immediately reported it to the Meycauayan police. They assisted me. The next day, they went to the Shell station to retrieve the CCTV, but the footage wasn’t released right away because they said it needed the owner’s approval. It was only on April 24 that the CCTV was handed over.

But on April 21 or 22, the Meycauayan police already showed us documents of coordination. We (his family and I) went to check them. The coordination was with Pampanga and Camp Bagong Diwa police.

Q: So these were police officers?

Chrisa: Yes, they were police officers—from Camp Bagong Diwa and Pampanga.

Q: What did you do then?

Chrisa: We went to the locations, but we weren’t allowed to enter. After that, the Meycauayan police helped us track the movement from the CCTV footage. Eventually, I found someone who had received money from Janver’s account.

Q: Where did you find this person?

Chrisa: On Facebook. I messaged him, and the Meycauayan police met with him and took his statement. He claimed he was just asked to receive and forward the money, and someone else picked it up.

Q: And what happened next?

Chrisa: I sought help from the NBI. Several of us—other families of abducted victims—went to them. The NBI processed everything. At first, I was told this might be drug-related. So I went to the NBI’s Anti-Illegal Drug Task Force. There, we discovered that the same group had abducted others too. It was the same people in the CCTV.

The NBI captured two assets related to the case. I even got back Janver’s watch from them. They admitted to me directly that Janver himself gave them the watch on the day he was abducted. But I don’t know why he would give them his watch.

Q: Attorney, can you confirm if these were really NBI assets?

NBI Regional Director: Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman. I’m the regional director of the NBI National Capital Region. This case is under active investigation by our Anti-Illegal Drug Task Force. I cannot comment in detail because it’s not my unit. However, I can say we reviewed the CCTV footage from April 18 and confirmed it was a drug operation. That’s what our task force said. I’ll coordinate further for more details.

Q: So if it was a legitimate drug operation, why is Janver still missing?

NBI: The task force confirmed only that it was a drug operation—apparently conducted by the PNP. We will verify everything. It’s difficult because the investigation is confidential, but we will try.

Chrisa: On April 19, someone was using Janver’s Facebook Messenger to send out multiple messages looking for drugs. It didn’t make sense—he never dealt with drugs. The messages were odd, and no one responded to him.

Q: So you believe the people who abducted him used his Facebook account to make it appear he was involved in drugs?

Chrisa: Yes. And there was even a video of him looking distressed, like he had been crying. His eyes were red, he looked anxious. It was sent to me during that time.

Q: How long were you together?

Chrisa: Two years.

Q: In those two years, did you ever see him use drugs?

Chrisa: Never. I swear. We had some breakups, but we got back together. He never used drugs. He had no record at all—his only work was online sabong.

Chrisa (continued): From April 21 to 24, we reviewed more CCTV. Then we found out from the NBI that the two assets were now in custody—but not for kidnapping. They were arrested on drug charges. They admitted to being involved in Janver’s abduction and others. I also met other victims’ families—they said their relatives were also accused of drug involvement, like marijuana. But none of them were sabungeros.

We’ve already shared all this with the NBI. We’re just waiting for updates now. Janver’s mother also asked me to speak about his case here.

Q: Do you know where the two assets are now?

Chrisa: The NBI knows where they’re detained. They said they’re jailed now, but not for kidnapping—only for drug charges.

Senator: Attorney, please help us confirm this. We need clarity about these two people.

NBI: I promise this body that I will coordinate with the task force and update you. I just cannot speak in detail now because it’s a separate investigation.

Chrisa: I’d accept it if it were true that Janver used or sold drugs—but it’s not. He wasn’t involved. He had no history, no record. His only work was in online sabong. That’s all. No criminal past.