by JOEL CALAMBA ESCOL, Managing Editor
MDNN National – The Crime Investigation and Detection Group of the Philippine National Police (CIDG-PNP) has filed criminal charges against eight suspects before the justice department, reports reaching MDNN national bureau said.
The CIDG, in a press statement, said it filed charges against eight suspects reportedly linked to the missing cockfighting enthusiasts (sabungeros) since last year.
The police investigators from CIDG have already identified eight suspects and several John Does positively identified as those who loaded some of the victims inside a van.
Yesterday, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla hinted some of those suspects were members of the PNP organization. Remulla, however, did not identify the names of the suspects involved in the disappearances of cockfighting aficionados.
Some of the witnesses told police investigators they reportedly saw a van being parked near the premises of the Manila Arena on January 13. The witnesses also revealed some of the missing persons were loaded into the van on that same day they saw the van.
“This is just one of the concrete steps that the CIDG, being tasked to dig deeper on this web of cases, is taking to get into the bottom of this. While there is a spark of national interest about these cases, the PNP is taking an evidence-based approach to slowly uncover the truth behind the disappearances,” Police Gen. Dionardo Carlos, PNP chief, told the media.
“We assure the worried families that the PNP is taking all efforts and initiatives to resolve the cases,” he said.
Yesterday, video footage proliferated in social media which showed how one of the victims was taken by the two suspects in Laguna, later identified by police investigators as workers of a farm in Luzon.
The victim was wearing a blue short and white shirt and he was positively identified by his wife as his missing husband.
