FORMER Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) chief Brig. Gen. Romeo Macapaz has been suspended for 90 days amid investigation over his alleged complicity in the high-profile missing “sabungeros” (cockfighting afficionados) with appropriate charges filed against him, the National Police Commission (Napolcom) announced on Thursday.
Meanwhile, a member of the Makabayan bloc in Congress urged pertinent authorities to press investigations into more than 300 human remains reportedly retrieved from the depths of Taal Lake, insisting that the case could not end even if the remains were not linked to the missing sabungeros.
Napolcom executive director and vice chairman Rafael Vicente Calinisan announced this during a press conference where he read a resolution stating that Macapaz has been accused of deliberately impeding and frustrating the government’s investigation into the case of the ‘missing sabungeros.’
Elakim Patidongan, brother of whistleblower Julie ‘Dondon’ Patidongan, charged Macapaz of unlawfully seizing his mobile phone ,as well as that of his other brother, Jose, which purportedly contained vital evidence on the ‘missing sabungeros’ case.
“Respondent (Macapaz) altered messages contained in the cellphones by deleting some of the messages. He even allegedly concealed the SD cards of the cellphones despite knowing that these are material evidence in the missing Sabungeros case,” the Napolcom resolution read.
Napolcom noted that this complaint was related to the pending administrative cases against several police officers linked to the disappearance and alleged execution of numerous sabungeros.
ACT Teachers Rep. Antonio Tinio addressed his call to officials of the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Philippine National Police (PNP) , and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) during a hearing of the House Committee on Human Rights hearing on the case of 34 known missing sabungeros.
Tinio averred that 355 human skeletal remains were recovered from a search area of just 300 by 300 meters—far less than one square kilometer out of Taal Lake’s 234 square kilometers—pointing to the possibility of the site being a “dumping ground” or “killing field.”
“This is deeply alarming. We don’t know who (the victims were)but it was clear that they were victims of a horrendous crime,” Tinio said.
He emphasized that the investigation must cover all possibilities, from accidental deaths to murder, extra judicial killings, and disappearances of activists and other individuals.
Tinio underscored that the discovery indicated wider human rights violations in the country.
“Several more are missing– not just the sabungeros but also ordinary citizens who have been seeking justice,”
Tinio said in Filipino.
He warned against prematurely closing the case: “You cannot simply close the investigation if there is no match to the missing sabungeros.”
Tinio also said the investigation could not just end without identifying the people who should be held responsible and accountable for the gruesome killings of the missing sabungeros.
Tinio likewise called on the Commission on Human Rights and Congress to pinpoint accountability. “There must be justice for all victims, regardless of who they are. The scale of these discoveries suggests a systematic pattern that cannot be ignored,” he said.
