Human bones recovered from Taal Lake in missing sabungeros search —Torre

Some of the recovered bones from Taal Lake during the search for missing sabungeros were human remains, Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Police General Nicolas Torre III said on Monday.

“Halo-halo 'no kasi alam niyo naman may farm diyan sa lugar na 'yan. May farm, ang Taal ay farming 'yan. So andiyan na lahat ng makikita natin. May mga na-recover na mga animal remains. May human,” Torre said in a press briefing when asked if the police already determined that the bones recovered from Taal Lake were indeed human remains.

(They're mixed because as you know there are farms in the area. Taal [town] is into farming. There are farms there. So everything is there. There were animal remains recovered. There were human [bones].)

“Mix-mix na ang ating mga tinitingnan ngayon. Kaya kasama sa ating processing diyan ang mag-differentiate kung ito ba ay animal origin o human origin,” he added.

(We're looking at mixed remains. Part of our processing is differentiating if a piece is of animal origin or human origin.)

A total of five sacks with suspected human bones have been recovered from Taal Lake since Thursday so far.

The Philippine Coast Guard on Thursday conducted an assessment on the site before the official search and retrial operations. 

Authorities also looked into the “fishpond lease” of one of the suspects in the investigation, which is considered the “ground zero” of the operation.

A sack containing bones was recovered at the side of Taal Lake in the town of Laurel. The bones were found near the location where whistleblower and co-accused Julie "Dondon" Patidongan claimed the missing sabungeros were transported before being dumped in the lake.

The bones were turned over to the police for forensic examination.

DNA testing will also be conducted to determine if there is a match with any of the families of the missing sabungeros.

A total of 34 cockfighting enthusiasts have been reported missing from 2021 to 2022. According to the police, the missing personalities were kidnapped allegedly due to match fixing or cheating in the cockfighting games.

Patidongan claimed that the victims were already buried in Taal Lake.

He named businessman Atong Ang as a mastermind in the case and also linked actress Gretchen Barretto to the disappearances. Both have denied the allegations. —KG, GMA Integrated News