By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

The four Negrenses wanted in the disappearance of the six missing “sabungeros” have no previous criminal records, the Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office (NOCPPO) says.

Based on NOCPPO’s latest monitoring, the four wanted persons also have no history of returning home, and police cannot rule out the possibility of their presence in the province, spokesperson Police Captain Judesess Catalogo said.

Catalogo added they are still digging deeper into the backgrounds of the other wanted Negrenses as these could prove useful for tracking.

A background check on Roberto Matillano Jr., one of the wanted suspects, shows that he was born in Negros Occidental’s Talisay City, and his last known address was in Bacolod City’s Barangay Punta Taytay.

When the police visited Matillano’s last known address, they found out he had not returned home for two years now.

Last week, the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group released the poster of six wanted persons, four of whom are Negrenses, involved in the disappearance of the sabungeros (cockfighting enthusiasts) in January of last year.

Aside from Matillano, the three other Negrenses wanted were Mark Carlo Zabala, Johnry Consolacion and Virgilio Bayog.

Also wanted were Julie “Dondon” Patidongan and Gleer “Gler Cudilla” Codilla.

The six also have a bounty of P1 million each and will be given to anyone who can give information to the police about their whereabouts.

In December last year, the six suspects were indicted for the disappearance of some “sabungeros” in Rizal province’s Tanay town.

They were accused of being responsible for the abduction of cockfight enthusiasts James Baccay, Marlon Baccay, Rondel Cristorum, Mark Joseph Velasco, and Rowel Gomez.

The Department of Justice said prosecutors found probable cause to charge the accused with six counts of kidnapping and serious illegal detention under Article 267 of the Revised Penal Code./DGB, WDJ