Manila.- The Philippine coast guard found a sack with what appear to be calcined human bones and identified other possible remains at the bottom of a volcanic lake, during an operation this Friday to search for the bodies of 34 men linked to gambling on cockfights, allegedly
murdered by police.
“A team from the Philippine National Police (…) in coordination with the Philippine Coast Guard, recovered a white sack containing what appear to be burnt human bones,” the Department of Justice said in a statement.
According to the note, the authorities still have to certify whether they are human remains and, if so, will carry out DNA tests to verify if they belong to any of the missing persons. The Philippine chain ABS-CBN reported this Friday that the search teams located other bags that have not yet been recovered.
The possible human remains were found in the lake surrounding Taal Volcano, south of Manila, where diving teams continued their search for the missing this Friday.
The case of the ‘sabungeros’, as cockfighting enthusiasts are known in the Philippines, dates back to 2021. In just one year, at least 34 people related to the breeding of these birds and the lucrative online betting around these fights, very popular in the Philippines but banned in 2022, disappeared.
Family members and activists have been denouncing for years that the ‘sabungeros’ were kidnapped and murdered as a result of rivalries in a world that moves millions of pesos, and have repeatedly expressed their frustration at the lack of progress in the investigation.
The incident remained buried until last month when a man, Julie Patidongan, claimed in an interview with GMA that the 34 were murdered and subsequently thrown into the lake surrounding Taal Volcano.
Patidongan affirmed that the murders were perpetrated with the help of agents of the Philippine Police, and accused businessman Charlie Ang, involved in the organization of cockfights and for whom the complainant worked as a security guard, of having ordered the disappearances.
Ang, for his part, has denied the accusations and on Thursday filed a complaint against his former employee, accusing him of threats and extortion.
Philippine authorities imposed restrictions a week ago on about fifteen police officers suspected of being involved in the disappearances.
