THE Department of Justice (DOJ) has expressed apprehensions that some relatives of the missing cockfighting enthusiasts locally called “sabungeros” were being swayed or “settled” to weaken the criminal cases being readied against those suspected of complicity in the involuntary disappearances.
This developed as Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla confirmed that Elakim Patidongan, a brother of whistleblower Julie Patidongan, alias “Dondon” and “Totoy,” also offered to turn state witness and has submitted his own sworn statement or affidavit.
At the same time, Remulla disclosed that negotiations were in the final stage on Patindongan’s inclusion in the government’s Witness Protection Program.
In a press briefing on Friday, the Justice chief expressed fears that some relatives of the missing sabungeros were being “settled to weaken the case” against the suspected conspirators in the disappearances.
“The rich must not dictate who lives and who dies in this country” Remulla stressed.
“We have news that they have (amicably) settled, but as we said the state has taken a special interest in this case. This is an issue that concerns the country and our way of life,” Remulla told reporters.
According to him, the complaints that they have filed were still being evaluated by the prosecutors to tie up some loose ends.
“We still need to evaluate everything because the statements to be included, there are what can be proven or not. That is our job, he who alleges must prove. We are looking at other pieces of evidence that can strengthen the narrative,” Remulla added.
Remulla also expressed confidence that their case build-up became stronger following the submission of statements by the Patidongan brothers.
For the time being, the DOJ was also working on getting testimony on the case from another Patidongan sibling identified as Jose, who allegedly has a pending sentence.
But for Remulla, the case has already become stronger with the statements of Julie and Elakim at hand, with a forthcoming affidavit from Jose to boot.
They are now at the evaluation stage, which will lead to a preliminary investigation. Remulla noted.
He added that subpoenas would be sent out soon against certain persons of interest.
In another development, Remulla revealed that they are planning to establish a forensic institute to bolster evidence gathering and processing.
He stressed that they are open to learning techniques from neighboring countries such as Argentina to equip the country’s forensic team.
Said institute will capacitate the national government such that the country will no longer have to rely in foreign support in these cases.
