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Emmanuel Tupas - The Philippine Star
January 23, 2026 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The government is verifying information that Charlie “Atong” Ang has fled to Cambodia or Thailand, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said yesterday.
Remulla said the tip came from whistleblower Julie Patidongan, the former employee and associate of the gambling tycoon who has warrants of arrest from courts in Laguna and Batangas in relation to the kidnapping and disappearance of cockfight aficionados or sabungeros.
“Raw information, according to Patidongan our star witness, he has access to Cambodia,” Remulla told reporters in a phone interview.
Remulla said there were reports that Ang had online sabong or cockfighting operations in Cambodia, suggesting that he may have already established a network in the area, including parts of Thailand.
The department chief also noted that the Philippine offshore gaming operators transferred to the Cambodia-Thailand border after President Marcos banned POGOs in the country.
Asked if they are looking at Cambodia and Thailand where Ang may be hiding, Remulla said: “Possible, that is the information that we received.”
As there are no records from the Bureau of Immigration that Ang left the country, Remulla is confident Ang is still around. However, he is not discounting the fact that the businessman may have fled through the backdoor.
“As far as the BI is concerned, of all our airports and ports of entry, ports of exit he did not pass there, that’s for sure. So we think that if it’s true that he already left, he went through the backdoor,” he said.
Police tracker teams have so far conducted eight raids based on tips from informants but the operations have turned up empty. Among these are game farms in Lipa City in Batangas, Porac in Pampanga and in Negros Island.
Law enforcement authorities also visited Ang’s residence in Greenmeadows Subdivision in Pasig and the house of his sister in Makati but the businessman was nowhere to be found.
If they could confirm that Ang is hiding in Cambodia or Thailand, Remulla said they will inform President Marcos who can directly communicate with the leaders of the two nations, noting the Chief Executive is the current chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.
“He has access to direct leadership talks so we will bring it up to the President and we will see what he decides to do,” he added.
Even if Ang has surrendered five of his six firearms to the police, Remulla said they are still considering the gambling tycoon as armed and dangerous as he has vast resources at his disposal.
“Of course, he earned P1 billion a day, it’s very easy to acquire firearms anywhere, even loose firearms,” he said.
As Ang could bribe police officers to avoid arrest, Remulla ordered members of tracker teams to wear body cameras.
“We are taking care that it does not become hulidap so everybody must have body cams before a raid because if money was found, it could be tempting,” he explained.
No recent travel records
Amid speculations that Ang might already be out of the country, the BI yesterday said they have no record that the gambling tycoon recently traveled abroad.
BI spokesperson Dana Sandoval yesterday said their database showed that Ang has “no recent recorded travel for all international ports of entry and exit manned by BI.”
The BI official said that Ang, being a Filipino, is not within their jurisdiction. But the bureau is providing intelligence information.
He is “not under our jurisdiction. But we help in the background in gathering intelligence information for the Department of Justice (DOJ) through our counterparts,” Sandoval added.
The BI is an attached agency of the DOJ. – Evelyn Macairan, Alexis Romero
