THE Mandaluyong City Prosecutor’s Office has junked the criminal complaint filed by businessman Charlie ‘Atong’ Ang against his two former employees who accused him of masterminding the disappearance of 34 cockfighting enthusiasts or ‘sabungeros’ four years ago.
In a 19-page resolution dated September 30, 2025, the city prosecutors held that Ang failed to present factual details and sufficient evidence to warrant the filing of the criminal cases before the trial court ‘with reasonable certainty of conviction’ against his former farm manager and alleged missing sabungeros’ whistleblower Julie ‘Dondon’ Patidongan and Alan Bantiles.
Ang, in his complaint, sought the prosecution of Patidongan and Bantiles for violations of Articles 294 (robbery with violence against or intimidation of persons), 282 (grave threats), 286 (grave coercion), 358 (slander), and 363 (incriminating an innocent person) of the Revised Penal Code in relation to Section 6 of Republic Act 10175 or the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012.
In his complaint, Ang claimed that respondents demanded P300 million from him so that he would not be implicated in the case of missing sabungeros.
The demand for payment was allegedly communicated through several phone calls by Bantiles, a former employee at his e-sabong firm Pitmasters Alpha, and on June 20, 2025, with Patindongan.
Ang said Bantiles insisted on paying the amount in order for Patidongan to recant his sworn affidavit executed before the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) implicating Ang, his three children and his associates in Pitmasters, in missing sabungeros’ case.
He said Bantiles warned him that Patindongan would continue to drag his name in the case in media interviews if he would not heed the demand for money.
On June 22, 2025, Ang said he was able to talk to Patidongan after Bantiles called him up and passed the phone to the latter.
During their conversation, Ang said Patidongan demanded the payment of the amount in exchange of his recantation but he refused to oblige.
However, the prosecutors said there was no prima facie evidence with reasonable certainty of conviction to indict Patidongan and Bantiles for attempted robbery with intimidation of person, grave coercion, and grave threats.
They held that the complainant failed to present sufficient evidence to prove intimidation.
The prosecutors even noted that it was Ang who initiated all communications between him and Bantiles from February 8 to 19, 2025.
‘This fact substantially undermines the claim that the latter was under persistent threats and extortion during this period,’ the resolution read.
The prosecutors pointed out that in typical extortion scenarios, it is the offender who initiates contact to issue demands or threats.
‘The absence of incoming calls or messages from respondents Bantiles over several days renders implausible the assertion that complainant was under constant pressure or coercion,’ they pointed out.
‘If it were indeed true that complainant was being threatened or blackmailed, the reasonable response would have been to cease contact, report the matter to authorities, or otherwise avoid engagement with alleged extortionists,’ they added.
Furthermore, the prosecutors said Ang’s continued financial support for Patidongan’s mayoralty race which amounted to P12 million between February and April 2025, contradicted his claim that the respondents had already conspired to rob, kidnap, and possibly kill him as early as September 2023.
‘Such conduct is not only counterintuitive, it also strains credulity. The natural reaction of a reasonable person upon learning of a solid threat to his life or property would be to take immediate protective measures such as cutting ties, conducting verification, reporting the matter to law enforcement, or at the very least, confronting the person involved,’ the prosecutors said.
Likewise, the prosecutors said there is no prima facie evidence with reasonable certainty of conviction to indict the respondents for incriminating an innocent person.
‘In contrast, the records of this case do not allege any specific act by respondents that could be considered ‘planting’ or fabricating physical evidence against complainant,’ the prosecutors added.
The resolution was signed by Prosecution Attorney Christine Brillantes and Edwin Mercado-Gregorio.
Ang, along with more than 50 other individuals are undergoing preliminary investigation at the Department of Justice (DOJ) for multiple murder and serious illegal detention complaints filed against them by the families of the missing sabungeros.