Faster transfer of items found in Taal Lake ordered for forensic exam

By Christopher Lloyd Caliwan, Philippine News Agency

RETRIEVAL OPS. The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) divers retrieve a sack from the lakebed of Taal Lake in Laurel, Batangas on July 12, 2025. Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Nicolas Torre III on Monday (July 14) said he ordered a faster transfer of the recovered items at Camp Crame to determine whether these are bones of the missing sabungeros. (Photo: Philippine Coast Guard/Facebook)

MANILA – Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Nicolas Torre III on Monday said he directed the PNP crime laboratory in Calabarzon to hasten the transfer of the items retrieved from Taal Lake to Camp Aguinaldo for forensic examination.

Torre made this directive to determine whether the items inside five sacks found by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) divers from Taal Lake’s lakebed are bones of the missing sabungeros (cockfighting aficionados).

“May mga remains na dumating sa Forensic Group, may mga remains na transport galing Batangas and para sa mas mabilis na proseso, we have already directed the Crime Lab of Region 4A at saka yung Batangas to already move forward the operations area para mabilis ang pag transport at pag-process nitong mga narerecover ng mga scuba divers natin (There are remains that arrived at the Forensic Group, there are remains that were transported from Batangas and for a faster process, we have already directed the Crime Lab of Region 4A [Calabarzon] and then Batangas to already move forward the operations area so that these recovered by our scuba divers can be quickly transported and processed),” Torre said in a press conference held at Camp Crame.

PNP spokesperson Birg. Gen. Jean Fajardo said they already secured DNA samples from 12 relatives of the missing sabungeros and if these samples matched their findings, then it would prove that indeed the cockfighting enthusiasts are already dead.

“So we are just waiting for the official result that will be issued by the Forensic Group kung may mag-ma-match sa possible human remains na nakuha natin dun sa tatlo na hanggang apat na araw na pag retrieve ng possible remains dyan sa paligid ng Taal Lake (if there is a match to the possible human remains that we recovered during the three to four days of retrieving operations in Taal Lake),” Fajardo said during the press briefing.

“Well, if there is a positive match, it will be the biggest development of this case. Breakthrough po yan (That’s a breakthrough) because this will prove our earlier assumptions na talagang pinatay na talaga ito 34 missing sabungeros (that these 34 missing sabungeros were really killed).”

The PCG’s retrieval operations resumed on Monday and this time, the divers will be using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV).

The search operations started on Thursday last week, yielding at least five sacks, including one containing suspected charred human bodies,

The divers found the items from the lakebed some 10 meters off the shore of Barangay Balakilong in Laural, Batangas.

The PCG conducted the search operations after one of the suspects, Julie Patidongan alias “Totoy”, earlier claimed that they used a tie wire to purportedly strangle the victims before dumping their bodies into the lake.

Meanwhile, Torre also welcomed the decision of Patidongan to file a complaint affidavit before the National Police Commission (Napolcom) against police officers whom he claimed were involved in the case of missing sabungeros.

“Well, that is the latest schedule and we fully support him because we need his affirmation to start the ball rolling on the administrative side of this case (against the involved police),” Torre said.