MANILA – Police searching for Charlie “Atong” Ang have visited 18 locations in 20 days but have yet to locate the fugitive businessman.
Still, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla believes the "world is getting smaller" for Ang even if he has already fled to Cambodia as claimed by a government witness.
"But his world is getting smaller. Kung nasa Cambodia 'yan, may extradition tayo, makukuha natin siya (If he is in Cambodia, we can have him extradited)," he said in an interview at Camp Crame on Thursday.
He added that the Philippines’ chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) this year will make coordination with Cambodia and Thailand — where Ang is also believed to be hiding — easier.
Ang faces arrest warrants from two courts for his alleged involvement in the disappearance of several individuals linked to his cockfighting operations.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has named him a Most Wanted Person and is offering a PHP10 million reward for information leading to his arrest.
Meanwhile, National Police Commission (Napolcom) Vice Chairman and Executive Officer Rafael Vicente Calinisan on Thursday said Ang attempted to interfere in their investigation on the police officers linked to the case last year.
Calinisan said Ang sent a message to him through a close friend on July 12 last year after Julie Patidongan, the government witness, filed a complaint against the policemen.
"Atong Ang himself made that call to someone very close to me. The question is why did he tried to intervene in the case for the policemen? Why does he have an interest in this case that he himself called up a friend very close to me? That call says a lot," he said.
Calinisan said such act raised serious concern over undue interest in the case as he stressed that the Napolcom remains impervious to pressure, regardless of wealth or influence. (PNA)