Human, animal remains found inside sacks recovered from Taal Lake

The suspicious sacks retrieved from the bottom of Taal Lake, where Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) divers were searching for the remains of 34 missing cockfight enthusiasts (sabungeros), were confirmed to have contained human and animal remains.

- By MARTIN SADONGDONG

No less than Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief, Police General Nicolas Torre III revealed this on Monday, July 14, as he said the burned human remains found inside the five sacks retrieved underwater were already subjected to cross-matching with the DNA collected from the families and relatives of those missing.

"Halo-halo kasi may farm dyan sa lugar na 'yan. Ang Taal ay farming [community], nandyan na lahat ng makikita natin. May mga narecover na mga animal remains, may human. Mix-mix na ang tinitignan. Kasama sa ating processing ang pagdifferentiate kung ito ba ay animal origin or human origin (It's a mixture of objects because there's a farm in that area. Taal has a farming [community], everything can be found there. Some animal remains have already been recovered, and there are also human remains. What we're looking at is a mixture. Part of our processing involves determining whether the remains are of animal or human origin)," Torres said in a press conference at Camp Crame in Quezon City.

Forensic experts from the Scene of the Crime Operatives (SOCO) were checking if the retrieved remains would match the "standards" or reference samples provided by the missing sabungeros' families.