ASEANEWS-HEADLINE | MANILA: Skeletal remains found in Taal area

DNA testing sought as ‘sabungero’ search begins

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MANILA, Philippines — Police searching for the bodies of cockfight enthusiasts or sabungeros found what appeared to be skeletal remains in the Taal lakeside area in Batangas yesterday.

The bones, which were placed inside a sack, were unearthed in a grassy area by the lake in Laurel town.

Brig. Gen. Jack Wanky, Calabarzon police director, said the site is one of the areas which whistle-blower Julie Patidongan, also known as Totoy, pointed to as one of the dumping grounds for the sabungeros.

Police teams led by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group went to the site yesterday morning and recovered the bones, based on information provided by Patidongan.

  

“We have not yet confirmed if those are human remains so Laurel police requested for SOCO (Scene of the Crime Operatives) to confirm,” Wanky said in a phone interview.

The bones were dark in color and it is unclear if they belong to just one person.

Police will subject the bones to DNA testing to determine if the remains were from any of the missing sabungeros.

An inter-agency search party led by the Department of Justice (DOJ) went to the fish port in Talisay town yesterday, the staging ground for the search efforts.

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As early as 2 a.m., Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) personnel brought rubber boats, rigid hull inflatable boats in Talisay, oxygen tanks and other diving equipment. They also have cadaver bags and first aid kits.

They have set their sights on a fishpond allegedly leased by one of the suspects in the kidnapping and murder of the sabungeros. “That is our ground zero from the start,” Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla told reporters in an earlier interview.

However, no actual diving occurred but only a technical site assessment where divers checked on the water conditions at the area and the weather. The PCG said search and retrieval operations would begin today, if the weather permits.

The PCG added that 33 of their technical divers would be part of the search for the missing sabungeros, however, it has so far only sent one-third of that number.

The search in Taal Lake was prompted by the revelation of Patidongan, one of the six security guards at the Manila Arena implicated in the disappearance of 10 sabungeros.

The investigation of the four-year-old case was going nowhere until Patidongan, also known as Totoy, came forward and tagged his former boss, gaming tycoon Charlie “Atong” Ang, as the mastermind in the kidnapping and disappearance of not only 34 but over 108 sabungeros.

Remains may still be retrieved

The remains of missing sabungeros may still be retrieved from Taal Lake even though it has been years since they have allegedly been dumped there, according to the DOJ.

Citing experts, DOJ Assistant Secretary Mico Clavano said the remains could still be there, considering certain factors such as the type of water in the lake, which is freshwater, that could affect the condition of the remains.

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“There are some who say we can still find something. Other searches were done in saltwater. There are experts advising us on what we should be looking for,” he told reporters in an interview in Talisay, Batangas.

The  search for the remains of the sabungeros was launched at Taal Lake, led by the DOJ, PCG and the Philippine National Police, following the revelations of Patidongan, one of the suspects in the case, that the sabungeros had been strangled to death and dumped there.

Authorities conducted a technical site assessment at Taal Lake yesterday to determine the water conditions of the area where the search will be conducted. Clavano clarified that the actual dive and search for the remains will not yet be conducted, saying that the area of the lake to be searched has a depth of 30 meters, citing initial information.

Damning evidence

Clavano said that aside from Patidongan, other “credible” informants have also pointed at the area as the dumping ground of the missing sabungeros.

“We are confident. We cannot say for certain how confident but it is worth the effort, it is worth looking into. We hope we can find something that will at least lead us in the right direction,” he said.

Should there be bodies found, Clavano said it would be “damning evidence,” and these could lead to the additional filing of murder charges against the suspects, on top of the previously filed kidnapping charges.

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“This will definitely shift the attention now to a murder case if ever bodies and remains are found. We do hope to see remains that will match the DNA of those missing cockfight enthusiasts,” he said.

He, however, clarified that even if no bodies were found, a murder charge can still stand if the fact of death is proven.

“Plan A is definitely to exert all effort to find the remains but at the same time even if we do not find [remains], we still have many options and we can corroborate the statements with hard evidence,” Clavano said.

A total of 34 sabungeros were declared missing but Patidongan had said more than 100 have been killed and dumped in Taal Lake.

Six suspects, including Patidongan, have been charged with kidnapping and serious illegal detention. They were later granted bail of P3 million each by the Manila Regional Trial Court, which has since been voided by the Court of Appeals.

Clavano also confirmed that the Philippine government has formally requested equipment from Japan to assist in the planned recovery operation.

The PCG will also utilize a remotely operated vehicle and unmanned aerial vehicle to support the search and retrieval operations.

PCG spokesperson Captain Noemie Guirao-Cayabyab earlier said they have coordinated with the Department of Science and Technology because Taal Volcano is under alert level 1. They also asked the DOST for information on the possible effect of an eruption to the visibility underwater.

“We have coordinated with the DOST because… if there is even a slight movement underwater we need to know how it will affect the safety of our divers and our diving operation,” she said.

“Our divers would be using (dive) tanks in their operations so the temperature of the water needs to be considered. The water might become warm and there is a probability that their tanks might explode,” she added.

Victim’s relatives file sworn statements

Meanwhile, around six relatives of some of the sabungeros submitted their sworn statements at the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group at Camp Crame yesterday.

They are eyeing criminal complaints against other suspects who have been identified in the case.

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Charlene Lasco, sister of online sabong master agent Ricardo Lasco, said their main wish is for authorities to recover the remains of their loved ones so that they can give them a proper burial.

“Second is justice for everybody because we have really suffered hardships and then third, so that no one would follow the example of the mastermind,” she said in an interview with reporters.

Lasco admitted she had mixed feelings when she and other relatives of the sabungeros met Patidongan in person as he is among the suspects. “It’s hard to accept that he is one of the persons who have knowledge about the disappearance of our relative but he will be one of the keys to shed light on this case,” she said.

Travel records

The Bureau of Immigration (BI) yesterday said that Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office Chairman Felix Reyes has to issue a written consent for them to release his travel records.

Patidongan has earlier alleged that Reyes was the retired judge that helped Ang in his legal cases.

While Chairman Reyes had already issued a statement that he granted the BI permission to publicly disclose his travels abroad from the time he retired from the judiciary on Oct. 1, 2021 up to present, Immigration spokesperson Dana Sandoval said that he would still have to give them his consent.

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In an interview over True FM, Sandoval said, “Our travel records, travel history are protected by our country’s data privacy laws. To share it publicly, his consent has to be written, informed and specific.”

“The statement he released was quite generic for a consent,” she added. –  Daphne Galvez, Arnell Ozaeta, Evelyn Macairan

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