MANILA, Philippines — Authorities are verifying reports that fugitive businessman Atong Ang may be in Vietnam, Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla said Tuesday, as the government coordinates with Vietnamese officials to check immigration records and confirm his whereabouts.
Remulla said the government has initiated diplomatic efforts to validate information that Ang may have entered Vietnam. He added that Ang may have left the Philippines through an unauthorized route in Mindanao and traveled to Malaysia weeks before courts issued arrest warrants against him.
Authorities are pursuing Ang and several others in connection with the disappearance of cockfighting enthusiasts, locally known as sabungeros. Regional Trial Courts in Sta. Cruz, Laguna; Lipa, Batangas; and San Pablo City, Laguna have issued warrants charging him with multiple counts of kidnapping with homicide, as well as kidnapping and serious illegal detention.
Ang has denied the allegations. The government placed a P20 million bounty on him on Feb. 12. Earlier reports suggested he had fled to Cambodia, but Cambodian authorities said he is not in their country.
