By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan
MANILA – Fugitive businessman Charlie “Atong” Ang, implicated in the “missing sabungeros (cockfight enthusiasts)” case, has been spotted in Vietnam, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said Tuesday, citing an intelligence report.
“It is an intelligence report and we are following it up and for confirmation [with] Vietnam authorities,” Remulla told reporters in a phone interview.
Remulla said Ang has no recorded departure with the Bureau of Immigration.
Courts in Laguna and Batangas have issued multiple non-bailable warrants of arrest against Ang for kidnapping and serious illegal detention linked to the disappearance of 34 cockfight enthusiasts. The Department of the Interior and Local Government has offered a PHP20-million reward for his arrest.
Remulla expressed doubt that Ang could expand his gambling operations in Vietnam.
“It’s difficult because it’s a communist government. They are very strict in law and order, so I don’t think he would be able to apply for his business there,” he said.
Ang was earlier reported to have been hiding in Cambodia but allegedly moved to Vietnam amid a crackdown on illegal gambling and online scams.
“I don’t know if he has connections there (Vietnam). It just came to my attention that he was there,” Remulla said. (PNA)
