Past 3 PM on a weekday, authorities brought a white sack to the shore from Taal Lake in the Laurel, Batangas area. When opened, it revealed a pile of bones. According to Calabarzon Police Director Jackie Wanky, the bones found inside the sack were recovered from the area pointed out by Jury Patidongan, also known as Totoy, the whistleblower in the case of the missing cockfighters.

Wanky clarified that the darkened bones would still need to undergo thorough forensic examination to determine whether they belonged to humans or animals.

The discovery of the bones coincided with a technical site assessment conducted by specialized divers from the Philippine Coast Guard in a portion of Taal Lake where the missing cockfighters were allegedly dumped.

“This is a technical site assessment we’re conducting now, in coordination with the Coast Guard, CIDG, and the DOJ. We’re here to assess the water and the area where the search will be conducted. We’re not expecting the Coast Guard divers to immediately dive today — instead, we’re checking water conditions, clarity or murkiness, and the depth,” officials explained. “The initial information we received indicates that the lake’s depth reaches around 30 meters.”

According to DOJ spokesperson Clavano, they have already identified the areas of the lake where the missing cockfighters will be searched. He said this is based on information from Patidongan and several other new witnesses.

“We are confident. We can’t say for certain how confident we are, but it is worth the effort. It’s worth looking into. We say that every piece of information we receive needs to be validated. We can’t just receive intel and do nothing about it. This is an investigation that previously had no leads. Now that a witness has come forward, the government is all-in. And even more informants have begun to step forward.”

Clavano added that experts believe there is still a chance of retrieving remains of the cockfighters. However, he admitted that the operation is extremely challenging because the corpses were reportedly tied with sandbags or sacks filled with sand to ensure they would sink deep into the bottom of Taal Lake.

“Some experts believe we may still be able to recover remains. They’ve pointed out key factors — because now we’re dealing with freshwater. Previous searches were conducted in saltwater. So we’re receiving expert guidance on what to look for,” Clavano said. “The challenge here is the information we received — that sandbags were tied to the bodies to weigh them down. That’s a different kind of challenge, because bodies without such weights usually float to the surface after a while.”

The underwater search in Taal Lake is part of the authorities’ continuing efforts to finally resolve the years-long mystery surrounding the disappearance of the cockfighters.

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