The camp of businessman Charlie “Atong” Ang plans to ask for a reconsideration of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) resolution indicting him for kidnapping and homicide charges in connection with the missing sabungero cases.
Ang’s lawyer, Atty. Gabriel L. Villareal, described the DOJ ruling as “deeply flawed and grossly unfair to the accused,” saying it relied heavily on the contested testimony of witness Julie Patidongan.
“The ruling, while likely given the bias apparent from DOJ conduct, suffers from clear factual gaps and substantial inconsistencies; clearly, the panel relied heavily on the flawed testimony of a lone witness,” Villareal said.
Villareal accused Patidongan of manipulating the proceedings to protect himself, claiming the witness was “masquerading as a crusader” and pinning blame on Ang “to save his hide.”
He also questioned why the DOJ excluded most of those initially implicated in the case if the witness’s account was credible.
“The fact that the DOJ did not recommend the filing of cases against the majority of those who were originally implicated in the case is, by itself, glaring proof of the spurious nature of Patidongan’s account,” he argued.
Villareal reiterated his earlier call for the Philippine National Police–Criminal Detection and Investigation Group (PNP-CIDG) to reinvestigate the case.
“Ordering a police reinvestigation is not only proper but mandated given the serious questions surrounding the legality and fairness of how this case has been handled,” he said.
The defense team maintained confidence in its position, saying it would disprove “all malicious and fabricated claims” made by Patidongan at the proper time.