New witness in sabungeros case ready to testify

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August 3, 2025 | 12:00am

MANILA, Philippines — One of the brothers of whistleblower Julie Patidongan said he is ready to testify in the case of the missing cockfight enthusiasts or sabungeros.

Patidongan’s brother Elakim said he is willing to share information on the fate of Melbert John Santos, a sabungero who was forcibly taken from a cockpit arena in Sta. Cruz, Laguna in January 2022.

“I am prepared to reveal everything I know and have witnessed,” he told GMA News’ “24 Oras” on Friday.

Elakim admitted he was the one caught on closed-circuit television withdrawing from an automated teller machine using Santos’ ATM card.

He added that he was ordered by a police officer, whom he did not identify, to check Santos’ ATM account.

“He (police officer) gave me the ATM but at that time, I didn’t know it was from one of the missing sabungeros,” he said.

Elakim said he only learned Santos was a cockfighting enthusiast on the news.

“I was told to check if there’s a huge amount in the bank account, if they earned big,” Elakim said.

Elakim and his other brother, Jose, are in the custody of the Philippine National Police after they were extracted from an undisclosed Southeast Asian country.

Julie said Elakim witnessed how sabungeros who allegedly cheated in games were brutally killed.

“He was there where the brutalities took place and he saw how the victims’ stomachs were chopped and their insides perforated,” Julie said.

On Friday, relatives of the sabungeros filed cases of multiple murder and serious illegal detention against gaming tycoon Charlie “Atong” Ang and other personalities whom Patidongan said were involved in the kidnapping and murder of the victims.

Ang’s lawyer, Lorna Kapunan, has yet to issue a statement on the cases filed against the businessman.