Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) chairperson and retired judge Felix P. Reyes defended his integrity and fired back at allegations of case fixing tied to the controversial disappearance and eventual killing of online cockfighting enthusiasts or the so-called “missing sabungeros.”
In a strongly worded statement released Wednesday, July 8, Reyes dared whistleblower Julie ‘Dondon’ Patidongan to prove his “wild accusations.” The ex-judge denied fixing cases for gaming tycoon Charlie ‘Atong’ Ang, who was tagged as the mastermind behind the crime.
“I dare him (Patidongan) to identify any specific case of Mr. Atong Ang or anything related to the Sabungero Case, which I understand is still pending in court, that I fixed or settled to the advantage of Mr. Ang,” Reyes said.
“If Mr. Patidongan cannot substantiate his accusation of case-fixing, I ask him to shut up,” the former judge added.
Patidongan, who previously worked for Ang as his “farm manager,” claimed in his revelations that a retired judge helped the group of Ang to be acquitted in one of the cases connected to the missing sabungeros.
Reyes dismissed the accusation and questioned its timing as it came just a day after he filed his application for the position of Ombudsman.
To refute any suspicion of overseas collusion, Reyes authorized the Bureau of Immigration to disclose his travel records from October 1, 2021 — when he retired from the judiciary — to the present. This is to “dispel any notion of travels abroad with prosecutors and judges,” he said.
Reyes also expressed willingness to cooperate with the official investigation to clear his name.
“I am ready and willing to cooperate in any investigation by any government agency that will shed light on these baseless allegations… and spare the judiciary and the prosecution service from the undeserved tarnishing of these institutions,” he said.
Patidongan worked at the Manila Arena cockpit and was one of the six accused of kidnapping and serious illegal detention in the missing sabungeros case. He was among those ordered arrested by prosecutors from the Manila Regional Trial Court in 2022.
He was released on bail and is now placed under police protective custody. Patidongan previously went by his alias ‘Totoy’ when he turned as informant and began revealing what he knew about the crime before the media.
