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Senator Aquilino Pimentel III said the case of 34 missing cockfighting aficionados should ''work hard'' to solve this as it has become alarming.

"It should be solved. The police and the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) should work hard. I will be greatly disappointed with the modern NBI, I am the sponsor of their law, if they will not be able to solve the case of the 34 missing persons," Pimentel said during a radio interview on Sunday.

The Senate held a hearing on Friday over the disappearance of the 34 persons, which started last year.

"There are around 8 to 10 incidents. Therefore, it is impossible to become a perfect crime. It was done 10 times and all are perfect crimes you cannot get any lead, you cannot solve, that is impossible," he said.

Senator Ronald Dela Rosa, a former Philippine National Police chief, ordered law enforcers to solve this ''triple time.''

Dela Rosa received reports that men would alight from a van and grab a person from their home. A wife of the cockfighting aficionado told the first Senate hearing, the men would wave a copy of a warrant.

Pimentel said the mettle of the NBI and Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) will be tested.

"From this we will know the level of the investigative ability of our law enforcement, the CIDG and NBI," he said.

"If this will not be solved by the best investigators of the Republic of the Philippines with the combined forces of the CIDG and NBI then God bless this country if that is the case," he added.

Pimentel added that the franchise bill application of the Lucky 8 Star Quest Inc. an e-sabong firm owned by businessman Atong Ang will be affected.

"Definitely when it comes to the bill of e-sabong franchise of course it will come out during the interpellation because what happens now is that the franchise applicant of the particular bill pending in the Senate is the owner of the three venues where the disappearances," he said.

"Definitely it will be raised not only for the subject matter of e-sabong but for the particular applicant, so it cannot be fast tracked because it will have to answer many questions," he added. Robina Asido/DMS