PNP raids, checks 20 properties but still no Atong Ang

By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan, Philippine News Agency

Charlie “Atong” Ang (PNA file photo by Avito Dalan)

MANILA – Fugitive businessman Charlie “Atong” Ang remains at large despite police raids on some 20 areas since January, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said Monday.

“We have raided and checked the properties and known whereabouts of Atong Ang. Siguro, hindi lalagpas sa (Perhaps not more than) 20 areas that were visited or raided not only twice but thrice,” PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said in a press briefing.

“In fact, we have already scoured a number of islands in the Philippines para lang sa (for the) reported presence of fugitive Atong Ang. It turned out to be negative.”

Criminal Investigation and Detection Group previously said their efforts were concentrated on Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon and the Bicol Region.

Ang has three standing warrants of arrest for allegedly masterminding the disappearance of 34 cockfight enthusiasts supposedly involved in game-fixing. His 20 co-accused, which include dismissed and active police officers, have all been arrested.

Nartatez said the police are also monitoring Ang’s associates for the possibility that he was hiding with them, and coordinating with the PNP’s international partners for the possibility that the gambling tycoon had flown abroad under an alias.

“It turned out to be negative and we are in constant coordination with our international partners, maybe baka gumamit ng ibang pangalan at napunta doon (maybe he used a different name and ended up there), but so far with all of these indicators the subject fugitive is still here,” he said.

The Department of the Interior and Local Government is offering a PHP20-million reward for any information that could lead to Ang’s arrest.

Aside from Ang, other high-profile personalities being hunted by the police are former Bureau of Corrections chief Gerald Bantag, the principal accused in the killing of radio broadcaster Percival “Percy Lapid” Mabasa; and former Ako Bicol party-list Rep. Zaldy Co, implicated in the allegedly anomalous PHP289.5-million flood control project in Oriental Mindoro.