‘Sabungeros’ search in Taal yields 2 more sacks, this time with stones
Two more sacks were recovered by divers in Taal Lake—this time containing stones—and included among the objects of interest in the search for the remains of dozens of people connected to online cockfighting who went missing between 2021 and 2022.
A Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) official on Saturday reported the results of its third diving operation for the search which began on Thursday. The two sacks were plucked out of the lakebed some 20 meters from the spot where, on Friday, two other sacks of yet undisclosed contents were also found.
The PCG is part of the multiagency effort to find the remains of the persons allegedly abducted and killed for cheating or match-fixing. They have been collectively known as the missing “sabungeros,” or cockfighting aficionados, though they included men who just worked as helpers in cockfighting arenas, not necessarily game officials or bettors.
The two sacks were found around 2 p.m. at a depth of at least 15 meters (50 feet) in the part of Taal Lake near Laurel town in Batangas province.
“What we got here has some sort of sinker, something to give it weight. Just stones,” said PCG Southern Tagalog Commander Commodore Geronimo Tuvilla in an interview after the operation.
Saturday’s operation was hampered by “zero visibility” underwater, according to the PCG.
On Thursday, a day before the start of the diving operations, the police and coast guard found a sack containing suspected charred human bones in the lakebed some 10 meters off the shore of the town’s Barangay Balakilong.
5 sacks so far
Saturday’s find brought the number of sacks recovered by authorities in Taal to five. The contents were turned over to crime scene investigators for forensic examination.
Tuvilla on Friday said the divers were searching the area according to a “pattern” based on information from Julie Patidongan, one of the suspects in the disappearances.
Out on bail, Patidongan recently surfaced in media interviews, his identity initially concealed by the alias “Totoy.” His statements that the sabungeros were killed and buried in Taal Lake revived the long-dormant case and led to the search.
The so-called whistleblower was placed under police custody earlier this week, days after he publicly tagged his former boss, gambling tycoon Charlie “Atong” Ang, as the mastermind behind the sabungeros’ killing. Patidongan also implicated Ang’s former girlfriend, actress and socialite Gretchen Barretto.
Ang and Barretto denied the allegation. The businessman has also sued Patidongan, saying his former aide earlier tried to extort P300 million from him before going out in public with the allegations.
Patidongan used to be head of security in some of Ang’s farms and cockfight arenas.
Suing Ang
In a radio interview on Saturday, Patidongan said he would file countercharges against Ang on Monday.
“The complaints he filed against me, I will just turn them against him,” he said on dzBB.
Patidongan said he would also go the National Police Commission (Napolcom) to file complaints against several police officers whom he had also linked to the disappearances in media interviews.
Last month, Napolcom Vice Chair and Executive Officer Rafael Calinisan opened a motu proprio investigation after Patidongan claimed that the officers were to kidnap and kill the sabungeros.
“On Monday, I really will be going to Napolcom,” Patidongan said on Saturday. “I will be filing against the police I mentioned.”
Philippine National Police chief Gen. Nicolas Torre III confirmed on July 7 that 15 officers—11 of them on active duty—had been placed under restrictive custody in Camp Crame, Quezon City, in connection with the case.
Patidongan also spoke of “former police officers who were with them (and) are already expressing interest” in cooperating in the investigation.
“Perhaps, once they’ve all been brought together in Camp Crame, someone will squeal on the others,” he added.
