In a country where justice is often a luxury and impunity a currency, the recent revelations from the Quad Committee and whistleblowers like Julie Patidongan expose a chilling truth: the Philippines has been governed not by law, but by syndicates masquerading as statesmen.
At the center of this criminal web stands Charlie “Atong” Ang, long known for his grip on jueteng, e-sabong, and small-town lottery operations. Now, he is accused of orchestrating the abduction and murder of over 30 sabungeros, ordinary men whose only crime was allegedly fixing bets in a rigged game. According to Patidongan, Ang gave the orders. According to the Department of Justice, the case is ripe for trial. According to the families of the disappeared, justice is long overdue.
But Ang is not alone. The QuadComm report paints a damning portrait of former President Rodrigo Duterte as the “face of crime,” a man who weaponized the state to protect drug traffickers, silence whistleblowers, and incentivize extrajudicial killings. Duterte’s war on drugs, once hailed as a crusade for order, now stands exposed as a smokescreen for a grand criminal enterprise, one that rewarded police officers for body counts and shielded allies like Michael Yang and Paolo Duterte from scrutiny.
This is not just about sabungeros or shabu. It’s about a system that disappears the poor, protects the powerful, and punishes truth-tellers . It’s about whistleblowers like Patidongan and Acierto risking their lives to speak out, while the state turns its machinery against them. It’s about families searching for loved ones in a country where the dead are buried not just in graves, but in silence.
Duterte is currently detained at the International Criminal Court (ICC) facility. The DOJ is preparing charges against Ang. Justice must not be delayed by bureaucratic theater. The Filipino people deserve accountability now, not just for the crimes committed, but for the system that allowed them to flourish.
We must demand:
– Full prosecution of Atong Ang and his alleged accomplices, including those in law enforcement.
– Immediate action on the QuadComm findings, with transparency and public oversight.
– Protection for whistleblowers, who are the last line of defense against state-sponsored criminality.
– A national reckoning with the culture of impunity that has turned public office into private enterprise.
The sabungeros are gone. Their families grieve. The syndicates remain. But if we speak, organize, and demand justice, perhaps the next disappearance will be of the empire itself.
