THE National Police Commission (Napolcom) has ordered the 90-day suspension of Police Brigadier General Romeo Macapaz, former Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) chief and now Police Regional Office-Soccsksargen (PRO 12) director.
Napolcom vice chairperson and executive officer Commissioner Rafael Vicente Calinisan said Thursday, August 28, 2025, that the suspension stemmed from complaints filed by whistleblowers in the case of the missing sabungeros (cockfight enthusiasts).
In a resolution dated August 22, 2025, Napolcom said it found substantial legal and factual basis to suspend Macapaz amid the ongoing investigation following the filing of complaints against him by Ellakim Patidongan for grave misconduct and conduct unbecoming of a police officer.
“Accordingly, the Commission, after a careful and judicious evaluation of the records and the motion, finds that there exists substantial legal and factual basis to warrant the grant of the motion for preventive suspension. The gravity of the charges, the preliminary showing of strong evidence of guilt, and the necessity to safeguard the integrity and impartiality of the proceedings collectively justify the imposition of preventive suspension against the respondent,” the order reads.
In a press conference, Calinisan emphasized that the grant of preventive suspension, however, is not tantamount to a finding of culpability on the part of the respondent.
He said the imposition of preventive suspension is not a penalty but a proactive and procedural measure intended to preserve the integrity of the investigation, prevent any undue influence or interference in the proceedings, and assure the availability of evidence and witnesses.
On August 14, Patidongan filed administrative complaints against Macapaz for allegedly obstructing the ongoing investigation into the case of the missing sabungeros, in which his brother Julie serves as a whistleblower.
Ellakim said that when Macapaz brought him and their brother Jose back from Cambodia in July, as part of the Philippine National Police’s efforts to resolve the case of the missing sabungeros, the latter confiscated their cellphones and altered some valuable evidence that could have been helpful to the case.
The PNP earlier defended that if not for the efforts of Macapaz, Jose, and Ellakim, the “missing link” in the case of the missing sabungeros would not have been arrested.
Jose is currently detained at the CIDG facility in Camp Crame due to a robbery conviction.
He was one of the two men captured in a video escorting Michael Bautista, while in handcuffs, out of a cockpit arena in Sta. Cruz, Laguna on April 28, 2021.
Ellakim, on the other hand, was seen in a security camera footage withdrawing from an ATM using a card that belonged to Melbert John Santos, who was reported missing on January 13, 2022.
Meanwhile, Calinisan said they are looking into at least four more PNP officers, including a police general, for their possible involvement in the missing sabungero case.
“These are names given to us by a possible witness and we are hoping that witness surfaces. So we are really hoping for him to come out. He is providing us names and the involvement of these names,” Calinisan said.
“Marami siyang alam (The witness knows a lot),” he added.
Calinisan said as the investigation deepens, more names of policemen are surfacing over their alleged involvement in the missing sabungero case.
“Kung sino ‘yung mga involved diyan, kung sino ‘yung mga nagprotekta diyan, kasama sa iniimbestigahan namin ‘yan. Pero we are not in any way pinpointing or targeting certain personalities—that’s not the case,” Calinisan said.
(Those who are involved there, those who provided protection, are all part of our investigation. But we are not in any way pinpointing or targeting certain personalities—that’s not the case.)
“Ang ginagawa nating imbestigasyon ay factual, ang ginagawa nating imbestigasyon ay exhaustive kasi ‘yun dapat ang gawing imbestigasyon. Pero it is not in any way targeting certain personalities,” he added.
(Our investigation is factual and exhaustive because that is how an investigation should be. But it is not in any way targeting certain personalities.) (TPM/SunStar Philippines)