MANILA – The chairman of the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) is forcefully denying allegations that he helped fix criminal cases for a controversial gambling figure allegedly linked to the disappearance of dozens of men.

Felix Reyes, a retired Regional Trial Court judge and the newly appointed chairman of the PCSO, has flatly denied allegations from a whistleblower who claims he bribed prosecutors and fellow judges to shield Charlie “Atong” Ang from charges related to the now-infamous case of the “missing sabungeros” — cockfighting enthusiasts who disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

“I categorically deny such wild accusations,” Reyes said in a fiery statement Wednesday. “If Mr. Patidongan cannot substantiate his accusation of case-fixing, I ask him to shut up.”

The whistleblower, Dondon “Totoy” Patidongan, told local media last week that Reyes — then a Regional Trial Court judge — allegedly traveled overseas with prosecutors and other judiciary figures to broker backdoor deals benefiting Ang. Patidongan alleged Ang had deep connections within the justice system and was “untouchable.”

But Reyes, who retired from the judiciary in 2021 and assumed leadership of the state lottery agency earlier this year, says it’s no coincidence the claims surfaced just a day after he filed paperwork to become the country’s next Ombudsman — the top anti-corruption official.

“I find it perhaps a rare coincidence that these wild accusations came out right after I filed my application,” Reyes said, framing the situation as a smear job.

He’s now calling Patidongan’s bluff — authorizing immigration officials to release his travel records since leaving the bench, in an effort to prove he never went on shady overseas junkets with prosecutors.

“If he cannot name a single case I ‘fixed,’ then let him take a lie detector test,” Reyes challenged.

The missing sabungeros case has gripped the Philippines for three years, involving at least 34 men who vanished after attending cockfighting matches — a once-booming, now-banned industry with ties to both high society and criminal syndicates.

Ang, a prominent gambling operator and political player, has been at the center of the controversy. At one point, he publicly vouched for Patidongan, calling him a “trusted employee who is responsible in overseeing construction jobs for different cockpit arenas.”

But that loyalty didn’t last.

Now, Ang’s attorney, celebrity lawyer Lorna Kapunan, is firing back — accusing Patidongan of betrayal and hinting that the whistleblower may know more than he lets on.

“All of these people who have disappeared, whose whereabouts are unknown or presumably killed were under his (Patidongan) direct supervision,” Kapunan told DZMM radio.

Ang has since filed criminal complaints against both Patidongan and another whistleblower, Alan “Brown” Bantiles, accusing them of extortion and defamation. In a statement, Ang called the allegations “entirely false, baseless, and malicious.”

Patidongan, for his part, has doubled down — recently naming not just Ang, but also actress and socialite Gretchen Barretto as alleged “masterminds” behind the killings, claiming the victims’ bodies were dumped in Taal Lake, south of Manila.

📷 PCSO