STORYTELLING THE TRUTH

July 5, 2025 Opinion

Hiding behind the monicker “Totoy” and his face blurred to evade recognition while in front of the cameras, Julie ‘Dondon’ Patidogan, one of the accused in the case of the reported
missing sabungeros back in 2021 up to 2022, finally bared to the public that known gambling aficionado Atong Ang and his former partner, showbiz personality, Gretchen Barreto, are involved in the abductions. When asked by the media for the reason behind his revelation after the passage of some years Totoy replied that it is because there is a chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), General Nicolas Torre III, whom he believes cannot be bribed by Atong Ang. Totoy also revealed that it was not only Atong Ang and Gretchen Barreto who are the brains in the abductions but also two other individuals by the name of Eric Dela Rosa and Engineer Celso Salazar, but added that it was Ang who is the main mastermind.

Definitely Totoy or Dondon as he should now be called has a story to tell but whether it is the truth or a version of the truth of what really happened to the missing thirty four sabungeros remains to be seen. What is admitted as claimed by Dondon and not denied by Atong Ang is that the former was a long time employee of the businessman tasked with managing his game farms around the country. One of his game farms shown on youtube and which garnered 1.2 million views is located in Sinoloan, Laguna and is reported to be around 50 hectares. You can see in the video that the game farm was named AA Cobra game farm and as the camera was panned around it will pass over two small helicopters with their respective helipads, large warehouse like facilities housing empty pen cages, and wide swaths of triangle hooches ostensibly housing game cocks. (https:// ruclips. net/video/ zON09ph7Aa0/pasilip-sabagong- game-farm-ni-idolatong- ang-1-million-viewsthank- you.html)

Totoy also disclosed that it was not only thirty four sabungeros who were abducted and killed by the group of Atong Ang but in fact more than a hundred others as well and all were allegedly buried in Taal lake in Batangas after being strangled to death. While the story and revelation of Dondon has yet to be verified and validated, to include his allegation that Atong Ang is offering fifty million pesos for someone to kill him, it cannot be denied that the abduction and murder of these sabungeros who were allegedly involved in cheating schemes
during cockfights or sabong was perpetrated by a group of individuals who acted upon orders to do the despicable act, or were themselves cheated out of their winnings and who
systematically conducted extreme reprisals against those they believed cheated them. What is more plausible really is that those who perpetrated the crime were under the direct
orders and supervision of someone, according to Dondon it was Atong Ang and his cohorts, who had the means and resources to discover and monitor the cheating schemes done by
these missing sabungeros and who stand to lose face and reputation, as well as perhaps millions of pesos, if these acts are not dealt with immediately and with finality.

Going by human nature, someone who is cheated from his winnings might be capable of ending the life of one, may be two or even three individuals who is perceived to have committed
that act of cheating. But to systematically and successively abduct around thirty four sabungeros and make them disappear for more than three years because they cheated in cockfighting now that takes meticulous planning, a wealth of resources, reliable manpower and a lot of influence. For now we have to wait for Dondon to tell his full version of the story on what really happened to the missing sabungeros. For the PNP, perhaps they can start coordinating with the Philippine Navy for some of their divers to start scouring the bottom of Taal Lake to determine whether the remains of the missing sabungeros as alleged by Dondon, are indeed to be found there. We can only hope that with the revelations made by Dondon justice can be had finally for the missing sabungeros and those who perpetrated the dastardly act are made to pay.

By: Briccio Domondon