The Department of Justice (DOJ) will ask the Japanese government for assistance in locating the bodies of missing “sabungeros” or cockfight enthusiasts who were reportedly dumped into Taal Lake in Batangas.
“I have instructed my staff to draft a letter to the Japanese government and to ask for their ROVs, remote operating vehicles, at ‘yung mga equipment na kasama nito para ma-map natin ang bed ng Taal Lake para makita natin kung anong mga sediments ang pwede natin tingnan at istorbuhin para mahanap natin ang ating hinahanap,” Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said on Wednesday, June 25.
He made the statement as he revealed that as many as 100 “sabungeros” may have been killed since 2021 – each allegedly for a fee of P500,000.
Remulla said a suspect in custody claimed, “There are more than 34; there must be a hundred of them.”
The suspect, now under protective custody and intending to turn state witness, has been identified as a certain “Totoy,” a security guard at the Manila Arena.
“Totoy,” who was described as one of the trusted persons of the killers, had earlier revealed that some of the missing victims, who were alleged cheaters in cockfighting games, were killed and dumped into Taal Lake.
Remulla said the case of the “sabungeros” needs the attention of the people and the country as whole.
He said he learned from “Totoy” that there were vouchers given to killers so they could be paid for the job.
“They received P500,000 for every person they killed,” he said, quoting statements from “Totoy.”
At the same time, Remulla said the investigation also deals with politicians reportedly affiliated with the group. He did not elaborate.
Thus, he said, the probe is focused on what the investigators believe is an organized group which earned millions of pesos from the lucrative online cockfight industry known as e-sabong.
He admitted that it is very hard to probe cases involving an organized crime group “but we are not backing down from this.”
At the moment, Remulla said the DOJ has asked the Court of Appeals (CA) to reverse the ruling of Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 40 that granted bail to six accused, including “Totoy,” for six counts of kidnapping and serious illegal detention involving six missing “sabungeros”: Mark Joseph Velasco, Marlon Baccay, James Baccay, Rowel Gomez, John Claude Inonog, and Rondel Cristorum.
Those granted bail were Julie Patidongan, Mark Carlo Zabala, Virgilio Bayog, Roberto Matillano Jr., Gleer Cordilla and Johnry Consolacion. (Jeffrey Damicog)
