MANILA – Former Marikina City Regional Trial Court judge Felix Reyes has broken his silence to vehemently deny allegations linking him to case-fixing in favor of controversial businessman Charlie “Atong” Ang — just a day after Reyes confirmed filing his application to become the next Ombudsman.
In a strongly worded statement issued Wednesday, Reyes flatly rejected claims by whistleblower Dondon “Totoy” Patidongan that he allegedly traveled abroad with prosecutors and judges to bribe them into clearing Ang of any liability over the case of missing cockfighters.
“I categorically deny such wild accusations of Mr. Patidongan. I dare him to identify any specific case of Mr. Atong Ang or anything related to the sabungero case, which I understand is still pending in court, that I fixed or settled to the advantage of Mr. Ang,” said Reyes.
“If Mr. Patidongan cannot substantiate his accusation of case-fixing, I ask him to shut up,” he added.
Reyes volunteered to let the Bureau of Immigration disclose his travel history since retiring from the judiciary in October 2021, asserting transparency.
“I find it perhaps, a rare coincidence that these wild accusations of Mr. Patidongan came out a day after I filed my application for the position of Ombudsman,” Reyes said.
He said he is “ready and willing to cooperate in any investigation” to clarify what he called “baseless allegations” and to “spare the judiciary and the prosecution service from the undeserved tarnishing of these institutions.”
Ang, for his part, filed criminal complaints last week against Patidongan and another whistleblower, Alan Bantiles, also known as “Brown.” Ang accused the two of attempting to extort money from him in exchange for dropping their accusations.
Through legal counsel, Ang branded the claims as “entirely false, baseless, and malicious” and said he “categorically and unequivocally” denies involvement in the disappearances and alleged killings linked to the missing sabungeros case./PN
