Two sacks in Taal Lake in search of ‘sabungeros’ remains - PCG

Metro Manila, Philippines - The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) has recovered two sacks on Friday, July 11, as authorities continue their search and retrieval of remains of missing cockfighting enthusiasts supposedly dumped in Taal Lake in Batangas.

In an interview in Laurel town, Commodore Geronimo Tuvilla, PCG Southern Tagalog commander, said the contents of the sacks will be examined to determine whether these are connected to the “sabungeros.”

He said while the sacks may not contain human remains, the retrieved objects may be “suspicious”. The sacks were turned over to Scene of Crime Operations.

Tuvilla said the daily search would continue as weather permits.

“We will try our best that we could para maibsan ang agam-agam ng mga pamilya at publiko…we will do everything we could para ma-check natin iyong bottom,” said Tuvilla.

[Translation: We will try our best to allay fears of the families and the public…we will do everything we could to get to the bottom of this.]

Tuvilla also ruled out speculations that the sacks were planted.

“Kung may makita kaming buto doon at i-DNA vs doon sa nawawala, ma-examine mo kung iyon ba ay sa mga taong hinahanap, masasabi mong binaon lang basta-basta. Hindi kami mag-aaksya ng panahon at nakita niyo risk lalo na sa mga divers namin, kung ganon lang iyong appreciation namin sa paghahanap,” he said.

[Translation: If we find bones there and conduct DNA tests with those of the missing persons, we can examine whether they belong to the people we’re looking for. You can’t just say they were simply planted. We wouldn’t waste our time, and as you’ve seen, there’s a risk, especially for our divers if that’s the only level of seriousness we gave to the search.]

On Thursday, July 10, the Department of Justice said “a sack containing what appeared to be burned human bones” was recovered during the surface search.

The search stemmed from the claim of suspect-witness Julie Patidongan, who said the “sabungeros” were dumped in Taal Lake.

Patidongan was a longtime aide of businessman Charlie “Atong” Ang, whom he named as the supposed mastermind of the missing persons case.

A total of 34 cockfight enthusiasts went missing from 2021 to 2022 after allegedly cheating in the games. Patidongan later said the number of victims may reach a hundred.