Remulla: Search for ‘sabungeros’ in Taal Lake could take 6 months
Of the 91 bone samples recovered from search operations in Taal Lake for the missing “sabungeros,” six were most likely human remains based on their shape and structure, the Philippine National Police said.
Lt. Col. Edmar dela Torre, officer in charge of the PNP DNA Laboratory Division, the six bones are candidates for DNA extraction and testing.
“The human bones recovered
from Taal Lake could be from one person, the PNP said.“
“By morphology, they are of human origin,” Dela Torre said.
He described three bones in particular as “significant” – a pelvic bone, a sacroiliac joint, and a lumbar bone.
He said it will take at least a week to generate initial findings from the samples, and another five to seven days to cross-match these with DNA samples submitted by 18 family members of the disappeared “sabungeros.”
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, for his part, said the search in Taal Lake will likely continue for six months given the area that spans 224 square kilometers.
“This will take a while – probably for six months. Many people died here, and what we are doing is no easy task—searching for human remains in a vast lake,” he said in a radio interview.
Whistleblower Julie “Dondon” Patidongan earlier said the missing “sabungeros” were killed, tied to sandbags, and thrown in Taal Lake.
Patidongan likewise linked former National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) chief Lt. Gen. Jonnel Estomo (retired) and other active police officers to the case.
Estomo on Tuesday denied the allegations made by Patidongan, who accused him of being part of the Alpha group of gaming tycoon Charlie “Atong” Ang.
Patidongan earlier tagged Ang and two others as masterminds behind the kidnapping and murder of the “sabungeros.” Ang has denied the allegation and filed a case against Patidongan
“I categorically deny my involvement in any manner and I will present evidence to clear my name, because there is no sufficient evidence to link my name to the case. And while I won’t get ahead of any investigation, I believe that only the truth – and not the words of others – should prevail in the search for justice,” Estomo said in a statement.
“I am ready to answer any allegations at the proper forum to clear my name. I have faith in the impartial justice system and due process of the law,” he added.
Estomo added his lawyers poised to file criminal charges against Patidongan.
“And as for Mr. Patidongan, for his defamation of my character and reputation, my lawyers are preparing the appropriate case for the malicious and baseless accusations against me,” the former NCRPO chief said.
Meanwhile, a lawyer representing the families of the victims of the bloody war against illegal drugs of the previous administration urged the government to pursue the possible connection of the drug war to the case of the missing “sabungeros.”
According to Kristina Conti, Assistant to Counsel at the International Criminal Court, this could bolster the crimes against humanity case against former President Rodrigo Duterte.
“The police have been implicated or, in particular, these death squads have been implicated in also killing of activists and other such targeted killings. It would add to the concept of some policemen being involved in a death squad or alternative criminal syndicate,” Conti said in a television interview.
Remulla on Monday said investigators are eyeing possible links of the individuals allegedly behind the case of the missing “sabungeros” to the extrajudicial killings during the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.
“I think that the deaths might intersect…more on the death squads. The people who undertake the contractual killings may intersect somehow with the drug war and with the e-sabong,” he said. “That’s as far as we can trace right now, but we will have to establish clearer links to each other.”
“A lot of individuals have also gone missing in the drug war. In accordance with the testimony of alias Totoy, there are more than 100 victims in e-sabong alone. But it looks like the lake has become a place where bodies are routinely disposed of. That seemed to be what happened,” the Justice secretary said.
