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Jul 13, 2025, 3:25 am

AUTHORITIES were able to recover a total of five sacks believed to be containing skeletal remains amid the ongoing search for the missing sabungeros (cockfighting enthusiasts) at the Taal Lake.

The first sack was recovered on Thursday, July, 10 while two sacks were found at the bottom of the lake by divers of the Philippine Coast Guard on Friday and Saturday.

Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Commodore Geronimo Tuvilla, who oversees all operational and tactical control of the search and retrieval operation, said the recovered bones were turned over to the Philippine National Police (PNP)-Scene of the Crime Operatives (Soco) and placed in cadaver bags.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) said the skeletal remains will undergo forensic examination to confirm if they are human, along with DNA testing to determine if they match the relatives of the missing sabungeros.

Tuvilla said among the challenges being faced by the Coast Guard team were the underwater current and zero visibility.

“Naglalagay tayo ng buoy, ng flotation device, para mamarkahan natin, and yung mga divers di madisorient sa bottom to locate again those things na nakapa doon,” he said.

(We’re placing a buoy, a flotation device, to mark the area so that the divers won’t get disoriented at the bottom and can relocate the items that were previously found there.)

Meanwhile, accused-turned-whistleblower Julie Patidongan, who was the former security head in the cockfighting arenas where the missing sabungeros were allegedly abducted before they were killed between 2021 and 2022, is set to file formal complaints against police personnel whom he implicated in the killing of the victims.

He said he will personally file the complaint before the National Police Commission (Napolcom) on Monday, July 14.

Earlier, PNP Chief General Nicolas Torre III confirmed that 15 active police personnel were placed under restrictive custody over their alleged involvement in the case of the missing sabungeros.

Torre earlier said that some of the 15 cops in restrictive custody were included in the list of those who allegedly received up to P2 million monthly payola from businessman and gaming tycoon Charlie “Atong” Ang, who owns the cockfighting arenas where the victims were taken and was tagged as the mastermind by Patidongan.

Patidongan said he will also file a counter-affidavit in relation to the complaints filed against him by Ang for grave threats, grave coercion, slander, conspiracy to commit attempted robbery with violence against or intimidation of person under Article 294 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC), and for incriminating against innocent persons under Article 363 of the RPC.

Ang, in his complaints, accused Patidongan of extorting him P300 million in exchange of not being implicated in the case of the missing sabungeros.

He said he refused to give in to the demands of Patidongan as he maintained his innocence in the case.

Earlier, Patidongan said over a hundred sabungeros were killed on the orders of Ang due to their involvement in cheating.

In 2022, former chief PNP Senator Ronald dela Rosa led an investigation on the case of 34 missing sabungeros, prompting the government to cancel the operations of all e-sabong activities, which were established due to restrictions brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.