Remulla denies reluctance to arrest Atong Ang, says manhunt ongoing

MANILA — Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla on Monday denied claims that authorities were reluctant to arrest fugitive businessman Atong Ang, saying the manhunt was ongoing and investigators were tracking his whereabouts abroad.

Remulla said authorities were confident Ang was somewhere in Southeast Asia or the Pacific region. 

Asked if the government really wanted to arrest Ang, Remulla replied: “Sino ba hindi may gusto? Kung puwede nga ako na magta-tumbling na ngayon.”

Remulla said one of the challenges in tracking Ang was his alleged access to billions of dollars in assets converted into cryptocurrency, which he said could make it difficult for authorities to trace his money and movements.

“I think he has $3 billion in cash with him all over the world converted into cryptocurrency,” Remulla said.

“Ayan ang mahirap, naimbento ‘yung crypto, hard to trace kung nasaan siya,” he added, noting that authorities were investigating his possible whereabouts in the region.

Meanwhile, Remulla said former Ako Bicol party-list representative Zaldy Co was in France and was applying for asylum.

Co was already in his third month of the asylum application process, which Remulla said typically takes months.

“That is my mission now — to work with the PCTC (Philippine Center on Transnational Crime) and the French government in helping us get the red notice,” Remulla said. 

Remulla said the absence of a red notice remained an obstacle to efforts to have Co arrested abroad.

He also claimed that Co was staying in a 10-bedroom mansion about 150 meters from the Champs-Élysées and Avenue Montaigne in Paris. 

“One whole building sa kanya. He bought the building,” he added. 

Remulla also said authorities were closing in on former Bureau of Corrections chief Gerald Bantag, whom he placed in the Cordillera region.

Asked how the failure to arrest high-profile fugitives affected the administration, Remulla said the responsibility weighed more heavily on him as the official tasked with law enforcement.

“It affects me more than the administration because it is my job. And I own up to it,” he said.