MANILA: No DNA profiles were extracted from the bone fragments recovered from Taal Lake, the Philippine National Police (PNP) announced Thursday (July 31).
At least 91 bone fragments were recovered from the five sacks retrieved from the lake earlier this July, the PNP Forensic Group previously said.
“Accordingly, we could no longer extract any DNA profiles from the bones. It was already contaminated,” PNP spokesperson Brig. Gen. Jean Fajardo said in a briefing in Camp Crame.
“The challenge there is that they were submerged for a long time,” she explained.
Forty-five of the bone fragments were recovered from the first sack found in the lake on July 10, while 46 more were recovered in the fourth and fifth sacks found in the lake on July 12.
On July 15, the PNP Forensic Group said six of the bone fragments may be of human origin.
In June, whistleblower Julie “Dondon” Patidongan (Alias Totoy) had said, in an interview over GMA News last June, that the cockfighting enthusiasts were killed, tied to sandbags and thrown into the Taal Lake.
Meanwhile, the three bodies exhumed from a cemetery near the Taal Lake yielded three DNA profiles – two males and one female, according to Fajardo.
It was on July 16 that the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that authorities found the three bodies.
“However, it’s a negative when it comes to the matching of the pieces with the 23 DNA references of those who came forward from the families of the cockfighting enthusiasts and provided DNA profiles,” Fajardo said.
It was whistleblower Julie “Dondon” Patidongan (Alias Totoy) who said, in an interview over GMA News last June, that the cockfighting enthusiasts were killed, tied to sandbags and thrown into the Taal Lake. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
