MANILA: A total of 401 “human skeletal remains” were recovered from Taal Lake as authorities continue the search for the missing sabungeros, or cockfighting aficionados, a Department of Justice (DOJ) official said.
Citing data from the Philippine National Police (PNP) Forensic Group, DOJ Assistant Secretary Eliseo Cruz disclosed the figure to lawmakers during a House committee on human rights hearing on the case of the missing sabungeros on Wednesday (Aug 27).
“From July 10 up to present, based on the records of the PNP Forensic Group, 401 pieces of human skeletal remains have been recovered from 17 different locations by the Philippine Coast Guard,” Cruz said.
“The recovered sacks containing the human skeletal remains are usually tied to or attached to sacks of sand that served as sinkers. Each sinker sandbag is of the size [of a] 25-kilogram rice sack,” he added.
Of the 401 human bone fragments recovered, PNP Forensic Group director Brig Gen Danilo Cruz said 163 skeletal remains had undergone cross-matching with DNA samples collected from 29 relatives of the missing sabungeros.
He added that the rest could no longer be used as the bones had already deteriorated.
When asked if any of the remains matched the DNA samples of the missing sabungeros’ relatives, Cruz replied: “None, so far.”
The PNP official noted that it will take seven to eight days for the results to be released.
To preserve the “integrity or evidentiary value of all sacks,” Eliseo said technical divers immediately turn them over to the PNP Forensic Group after retrieving them from the bottom of the lake.
The claim that the 34 missing sabungeros were buried in Taal Lake in June this year came from the alias “Totoy,” identified as whistleblower Julie “Dondon” Patidongan.
Patidongan was among six security guards accused of abducting the cockfighting enthusiasts. He also alleged that the victims were strangled with a tie wire before their bodies were dumped into the lake. - Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN
