Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said named businessman Charlie “Atong” Ang and actress Gretchen Barreto as suspects in the case of the missing sabungeros who disappeared from 2021 to 2022.

In an ambush interview, Remulla said they will be among the suspects because they were named, so we will have to include them.

Earlier, a certain Julie “Dondon” Patidongan, alyas Totoy, tagged Ang as the mastermind behind the abductions. Patidongan, who claimed to be a security chief in Ang’s farms and cockfight arenas, also linked Barretto to the disappearances.

Remulla said the filing of charges will happen “sooner than later.”

“I-evaluate ‘yan ng ating group of fiscals who will be assigned to evaluate all the evidence so that we will know what cases to file properly,” Remulla said.

Earlier, Ang maintained his innocence as he filed a complaint against Patidongan on Thursday morning, accusing the latter of trying to extort P300 million from him.

He said Patidongan and another former employee threatened to implicate him in the missing sabungeros case if he refused to give them P300 million.

Ang’s camp also appealed to the government to look at other leads instead of one lead that is “false and misleading.” His camp asked the government to not believe in a whistleblower who allegedly distorts information.

Ang’s legal counsel Atty. Lorna Patajo-Kapunan stressed Ang’s innocence in the disappearances.

“He will cooperate fully and voluntarily in any investigation of the case so that the real culprits will come out and the families of the victims get their closure,” she said.