A Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) officer from the Visayas is under scrutiny for possible connections to an illegal cigarette operation and gaming tycoon fugitive Charlie “Atong” Ang.
During a press conference on Monday, April 27, 2026, Philippine National Police (PNP) spokesperson Brigadier General Randulf Tuaño announced that PNP chief General Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. has ordered an investigation into a police major assigned in Bacolod City, who previously served as the CIDG provincial officer in the Negros Island Region.
Tuaño stated that Nartatez issued the directive following the April 22 raid on an alleged online cockfighting (e-sabong) operation in Talisay City, Negros Occidental, which led to the arrest of 30 individuals.
The police officer is initially being investigated for allegedly providing protection to a raided illegal cigarette manufacturing operation in Bago City and Bacolod City, Negros Occidental. The raid yielded nearly P800 million worth of illegal tobacco and machinery.
“There are two angles being pursued in the CIDG investigation — the possible link of Atong Ang to the said e-sabong operation in Talisay City, and the link of the police major to Atong Ang as his alleged operator in the said e-sabong,” Tuaño said.
He added that the CIDG is also looking into Ang’s connections to a raided cockpit in Tondo, Manila, on March 24, over its alleged involvement in illegal e-sabong.
Ang was named by the Department of the Interior and Local Government as the country’s No. 1 most wanted person due to his alleged involvement in the disappearances of sabungeros (cockfighting enthusiasts). The DILG has placed a P20 million bounty for Ang’s arrest. The Philippine government ordered a ban on online cockfighting on May 22 following the cases of missing sabungeros.
