MANILA, Philippines – The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) announced that it has doubled the bounty for those who can help in the arrest of gaming tycoon Charlie “Atong” Ang.

“We are increasing the bounty for Atong Ang [from P10 million] to P20 million for information leading to his arrest,” DILG chief Juanito Victor “Jonvic” Remulla said in a press conference on Thursday, February 12.

“We’re serious here. P20 million for information leading to his arrest. If you’re wondering where that came from, it came from confidential funds provided to the PNP (Philippine National Police) and the DILG,” Remulla added in a mix of Filipino and English.

The Philippine government first announced in January the P10-million bounty for Ang, who faces kidnapping with homicide and kidnapping with serious illegal detention cases over the disappearance of sabungeros (cockfighting aficionados).

Last month, the government also tagged Ang as the “most wanted criminal in the country,” prompting the interior department and the PNP to launch a nationwide manhunt for the tycoon.

Play Video

Meanwhile, Remulla said on Thursday that Ang is still in the Philippines, not in Cambodia. He said the Cambodian government has informed them that it has no records of Ang’s entry nor exit there.

Remulla also said that the Philippine government will be using drones with lidar sensors to track other fugitives.

“We’re going to deploy them in the next few months for more intensive manhunt operations against Gerald Bantag [suspect in the Percy Lapid Case], Atong Ang, and the upcoming indictments in the flood control scandal,” Remulla said.

Ang was first implicated in the missing sabungeros case in 2022 because he owns the Lucky 8 Star Quest, the operator of cockfighting arenas where some of the missing sabungeros were last seen.

Three years later, in 2025, he was placed in hot water anew after his former employee, accused-whistleblower Julie “Dondon” Patidongan, tagged him as the alleged mastermind in the disappearances.

Government data show that at least 34 sabungeros went missing from April 2021 to January 2022, but Patidongan said this number could reach over a hundred. – Rappler.com