THE Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has offered a P10-million bounty for whoever can provide information leading to the arrest of gaming tycoon Charlie “Atong” Ang, who has been charged as the mastermind behind the kidnapping and murder of several cockfight enthusiasts, or “sabungeros,” in 2021. “The DILG will be placing a P10 million reward for his arrest,” Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla said in Filipino during a press briefing in Quezon City on Thursday. “Any information leading to the conclusive arrest of Atong Ang will merit a P10 million reward. No questions asked,” he added. The Santa Cruz, Laguna Regional Trial Court Branch 26 on Wednesday released a warrant for the arrest of Ang and 17 others who are facing three counts of kidnapping and serious illegal detention, and kidnapping with homicide. Apart from that, Ang is also facing similar cases in San Pablo, also in Laguna and in Lipa, Batangas. The Philippine National Police (PNP) has set up tracker teams to locate and serve the order in all identified locations of Ang’s whereabouts. It has also tightened its watch on all ports and possible exit points to prevent Ang from leaving the country. Ang’s 17 co-accused are now under custody of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG). CIDG chief Police Maj. Gen. Robert Alexander Morico II urged Ang to surrender rather than be subjected to the consequences of a manhunt. Authorities failed to find Ang in his five-story Mandaluyong residence when arresting officers went there to serve the warrant. Ang is facing multiple arrest warrants for four counts of kidnapping with homicide, and several counts of kidnapping and serious illegal detention. The cases stem from a series of incidents involving the disappearance of more than a hundred sabungeros, over recent years, a scandal that ultimately led to the shutdown of e-sabong operations nationwide. Ang’s co-accused include 10 active and former PNP personnel, and seven civilians. The 10 police officers, including one dismissed from the service, are currently detained at Camp Crame. Remulla said the PNP has mobilized all of its roughly 320,000 personnel nationwide to locate Ang, whom authorities believe remains in the country and may be moving between safe houses. He appealed to Ang to surrender peacefully and cautioned those who may be protecting him. “My advice to him, Atong, surrender now,” Remulla said. “If you become a fugitive from the law, then we will treat you like a fugitive.” To prevent Ang from fleeing abroad, the government has requested the Bureau of Immigration to issue a hold departure order and has initiated the process for an Interpol Red Notice, which would alert law enforcement agencies worldwide. Officials also confirmed coordination with the Anti-Money Laundering Council to track and potentially freeze Ang’s assets in an effort to cripple his ability to finance his evasion. Authorities acknowledged that Ang’s immense wealth poses a significant challenge to his capture. At the height of e-sabong operations, which have since been shut down, Ang’s network allegedly earned as much as P1 billion a day. Remulla said that while six firearms registered in Ang’s name have been revoked, investigators believe he can easily acquire other weapons. “He is a poor man with a lot of money,” Remulla said, adding that Ang is known to travel with as many as 20 armed bodyguards. According to Remulla, Ang’s security detail has historically been composed of former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) agents, giving him access to trained former law enforcement personnel who may have insulated him from arrest for years. “Before, his bodyguards were former NBI. Since 1998 up to 2022, it’s all NBI or ex-NBI,” Remulla said, warning that this background, combined with Ang’s temperament, makes him particularly dangerous. He cited an alleged incident in which Ang slapped a congressman inside a cockpit arena after a dispute, describing the fugitive as hot-headed and prone to violence. Investigators are also monitoring multiple properties believed to be linked to Ang, including game farms and agricultural estates registered under his name or through proxies in Batangas, Lipa, Laguna and parts of the Visayas. Remulla said these assets could serve as potential hideouts. “He has prepared for a long time. That’s why there are certain properties he can use,” he said. Despite Ang’s resources, Remulla insisted that the case against him has not been compromised. He said the Department of Justice (DOJ) spent 43 months building the cases and that no investigator, prosecutor or judge had been influenced. “In all his money and all his capability, he has not been able to buy any investigator, any prosecutor, any judge,” Remulla said. He disclosed that he and his brother, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla, had rejected two separate P1-billion bribe attempts over the past two weeks from individuals linked to Ang. The offers, he said, were allegedly meant to influence a related flood control case and were immediately reported to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. “The first was from a contractor based in Luzon, who approached a mutual friend about two weeks ago,” Remulla said. “The second attempt happened just three to four days ago, from another individual in the Visayas.” Remulla said both offers were made indirectly, through intermediaries, and without any money being physically presented, making immediate legal action difficult. “This is deniable. It was just mentioned, no money was shown. It was like a story being told to me,” he said. “They think they can buy their case from us brothers. The key is not with us; the key is with their lawyers to defend them in court,” he added. “All the people of the Philippines, remember: money today is not enough to buy your freedom.” As the manhunt continues, the DILG and the PNP urged the public to report any information on Ang’s whereabouts through official channels, stressing that harboring a fugitive is a criminal offense and that the reward is intended to encourage cooperation and hasten the resolution of one of the country’s most notorious criminal cases. Ang’s lawyer on Wednesday assailed as premature the decision by a Laguna court to issue a warrant of arrest against his client. Describing it as “legally questionable,” lawyer Gabriel Villareal said the arrest order of the Santa Cruz, Laguna Regional Trial Court Branch 26 has failed to meet the constitutional requirements that should have been afforded to his client. “Clearly, the court merely acted on the incomplete information provided by the Department of Justice (DOJ) in its determination of probable cause, without the counter affidavits and exculpatory evidence of the respondents, including Mr. Ang,” Villareal told The Manila Times via Viber. Citing jurisprudence, Villareal said the order violates Ang’s rights and may be considered constitutionally infirm under Article III, Section 2 of the Constitution and the Supreme Court’s rulings in Roberts vs. Court of Appeals and Soliven vs. Makasiar. He said they would exhaust all available legal remedies to give Ang the opportunity to challenge the arrest order. “I assure the public that Mr. Ang will continue to respect the authority of the court and submit himself to the processes of the law,” he said. However, Villareal maintained that Ang is innocent of all the charges leveled against him by self-confessed whistleblower Julie Patidongan, whom he described as the real mastermind of the crime. He criticized what he called the bias of the DOJ in building the case against his client by relying solely on Patidongan’s testimony. “It is unfortunate that the DOJ has allowed itself to become a witting instrument of Patidongan’s manipulations aimed at absolving himself of legal culpability at the expense of Mr. Ang,” Villareal said. Moreover, he said that no physical evidence has been presented by the DOJ to link Ang to the case and that only Patidongan’s narrative was used in determining probable cause. “This case was built on haste and from the beginning there was an intent to use our client as a sacrificial lamb to protect the real mastermind of the crime,” Villareal said.