Missing Sabungeros, Missing Bodies, Missing Logic: DOJ’s Christmas Gift to the Nation

Ten Counts of Kidnapping with Homicide, Zero Counts of Actual Corpses

By Louis ‘Barok‘ C. Biraogo — December 10, 2025

MGA ka-kweba, it’s raining kidnapping-with-homicide charges again, and the strongest stench is coming from a Department of Justice (DOJ) resolution that looks like it was drafted in a hurry inside a karaoke bar. December 9, 2025 – the day the DOJ suddenly decided that “reasonable certainty of conviction” is its new favorite magic spell against Charlie “Atong” Ang and his 21 police co-respondents who look like the casting call for “Batang Quiapo Gone Wrong.”

Step into the cave. No mercy.

**“DOJ drops new boy-band single: ‘No Corpus, No Problem!’ —streaming exclusively in three courts at once!”**

1. The Cast of Clowns & The Paper-Thin Dossier

First, Atong Ang – the cockfighting billionaire who’s basically the Teflon Don of the e-sabong empire. With him are 21 cops with ranks so shiny they blind you: Lt. Col. Ryan Jay Orapa, Police Master Sergeant Michael Jaictin Claveria, and other “public servants” apparently moonlighting as the Alpha Group of Taal Lake Body Disposal Services™. Plus a few John Does – classic DOJ move when the evidence is thin: just throw in some placeholders.

And the DOJ? Press release in five minutes, but the actual resolution? “We cannot provide a copy yet, pending receipt and possible filing of Motions for Reconsideration (MRs).” Translation: “We’re not showing it to you because you might laugh at how skinny the evidence is.” Prima facie evidence with reasonable certainty of conviction, they say. Reasonable certainty? To anyone who knows the DOJ, their version of reasonable certainty is like a Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) forecast – 70 % chance of conviction, 100 % chance of drama.

2. The Legal Theater: A Critique of Charges, Venue, and the DOJ’s New Magic Trick

What did the DOJ do? Split ten counts of kidnapping with homicide across three Regional Trial Courts (RTCs) – Lipa, Sta. Cruz, San Pablo. It’s like a Netflix limited series: “Missing Sabungeros: Laguna Edition.” Why three courts? “Territorial jurisdiction,” they claim. Real translation: “So it’s hard to consolidate, hard to defend, and there are more judges who can be pressured or sweet-talked.” Classic fragmentation tactic.

And the new standard? “Prima facie evidence with reasonable certainty of conviction.” For the love of everything holy, Rule 112 of the Revised Rules of Criminal Procedure still says probable cause is all you need to file an information. But suddenly there’s a new DOJ circular that invented a higher bar – basically a mini-trial at the preliminary investigation stage. Whoever cooked that up must have been feeling extra inspired that day. This is prosecutorial ambition dressed in the shiny suit of “higher ethical standards.” Next time, just bring a crystal ball to the panel – it would be more honest.

3. The Prosecution’s House of Cards (And Ang’s Arsenal of Wrecking Balls)

What weapons does the prosecution have?

One “dubious witness” named Totoy Patidongan clutching a USB like it’s the Holy Grail
Telecom data (because we all have cellphones, guilty already?)
A circumstantial chain that reads like a teleserye plot twist

And zero bodies. None. Nada. Not even a finger bone in Taal Lake.

People v. Roluna (G.R. No. 101797, 24 March 1994) is cackling from the grave: no corpus delicti, no homicide. At best kidnapping, maybe serious illegal detention, but kidnapping with homicide? Good luck proving that beyond reasonable doubt.

Atong, meanwhile? He’ll file a scorched-earth Motion for Reconsideration, brand the witness a fabricator, threaten perjury charges, and once it hits the courts – motion-to-quash galore. His defense strategy is simple: “Prove it, motherf*cker.” And on the current record, the prosecution is going to have a very bad day.

4. The Bail Gambit: Will the Golden Cage Open?

The first real fight? The bail hearing.

Constitutional Law 101: Article III, Section 13 of the 1987 Constitution – bail is the rule, jail the exception. Only when the offense is punishable by reclusion perpetua and evidence of guilt is strong do you lose the right. Strong evidence? From a resolution they refuse to show? Good luck with that.

Enrile – 91 years old, sickly – got bail in a plunder case in Enrile v. Sandiganbayan (G.R. No. 213847, 18 August 2015). Atong Ang is healthy, loaded, and connected. Unless Totoy has a smoking-gun video of Atong saying “I ordered it,” I smell bail. And once he walks, the prosecution’s momentum is gone.

5. Gossip, Guns-for-Hire Cops, and the Perfume of Political Timing

Outside the courtroom, the stench is overpowering.

Totoy and his magical USB – like Hayden Kho’s sex tape: everyone’s excited, nothing ever surfaces
Bodies supposedly dumped in Taal Lake – the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) should have gone scuba-diving back in 2022
21 cops on the list – meaning there’s a syndicate inside the Philippine National Police (PNP) more organized than the Commission on Elections (COMELEC)
Gretchen Barretto got cleared – because of course, star power runs on a different justice lane

And why only now, 2025? Senate hearings in 2022, then the case took a four-year nap until “new evidence” magically appeared. This is political calculus, friends. Someone high up said, “File it now, elections are coming.”

6. Verdict from the Kweba: Recommendations & Prognosis

My prognosis?

Atong Ang walks on bail before Holy Week 2026
The case drags for 10–15 years, witnesses mysteriously disappear or change their stories
Conviction? Highly unlikely. Acquittal or downgrade to simple kidnapping? Very possible
The real winners? The lawyers – billions in legal fees

My loving recommendations:

To the DOJ: Next time there’s no body, don’t flex with “kidnapping with homicide.” Stick to simple illegal detention – it matches your anorexic evidence.
To the RTC judges: Renovate your courtrooms. You’ll need space for Atong’s ego and the prosecution panel’s collective panic attacks.
To Atong Ang: Just donate a new cockpit arena to the families of the missing sabungeros. Might shave off some karma.
And to you, mga ka-kweba: When the next headline screams “new evidence vs Atong,” remember – in the Philippines, evidence is like a cop’s wife: it disappears the moment you need it.

Until the next episode of this teleserye, friends.

Keep the faith. Or at least keep the receipts.

— Barok