TANAY, Rizal – As if grieving for the last two years isn’t enough, families of the missing sabungeros from this locality got a shock of their lives over the court’s decision to allow “abductors” to post bail for non-bailable crimes.
In their statement, the families of brothers Marlon and James Baccay, John Claude Inonog, Mark Joseph Velasco, Rondel Cristorum and Rowel Gomez – all from Tanay, Rizal said that the recent ruling of the Manila Regional Trial Court which to them could be a precedent to the other missing sabungero cases pending in court.
Last week, Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Richard Fadullon admitted that the Manila RTC earlier allowed Julie Patidongan, Gleer Codilla, Mark Carlo Zabala, Virgilio Bayog, Johnny Consolacion, and Roberto Matillano Jr. to post bail at P3 million each.
They are facing six counts of kidnapping and serious illegal detention charges under Art. 267 of the Revised Penal Code over the alleged abduction of six individuals at the Manila Arena in January 2022.
“Buhay pa ba sila o patay na? Ang hangad ko sana kung buhay pa, pakawalan na. Kung patay na ibigay na lang ang bangkay nang mabigyan ng disenteng libing. Hindi yun parang hayop na humukay at tinapon na lang," said a grieving mom.
“Parang nawalan na ako ng interes na mabuhay, mahirap ang pinagdadaanan ko. Eh yung inaasahan ko na anak sa pagtanda ko, siya ang gabay ko, hanggang ngayon hindi pa nakikita," she added.
Although the victim’s families have not yet filed a case concerning the disappearance of their relatives, they are unanimously convinced that there's only one group that abducted all of them.
“Iisa lang ang pattern nung pagkawala ng mga tao, paanong masasabi na hindi sa sabungan nawala?"
They also took a swipe at the authorities whom they claimed are not too eager to pursue the case – "Hindi po ako nawawalan ng pag asa. Hanggat buhay ako. Sana makonsensya sila, ang Diyos hindi natutulog, makakarama rin sila," she further averred.
“Bakit nila pinayagan na sila pag piyansahin? Sana naman yung mga pulis, yung mga tumutulong, update naman kami, wala kaming alam, buhay pa ba o patay na?”
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