'Bones of sabungeros can still be recovered'

Whistleblower: Gretchen voted for abduction

- EJ MACABABBAD

The bones of the missing cockfight enthusiasts or sabungeros could still be recovered in Taal Lake if allegations that they were dumped there turn out to be true, the secretary of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) said.

DOST chief Renato Solidum Jr. told reporters yesterday that given the lake's depth, authorities could still retrieve the victims' remains.

"Remains do not decompose if they are underneath because oxygen levels decrease," Solidum said on the sidelines of the Saturday News Forum in Quezon City.

"Bones generally won't decompose; only the flesh will," he added.

The Science and Technology Secretary explained that if the bodies were lying in shallow water, oxidation could lead to the decomposition of the flesh.

Whistleblower Julie Patidongan, also known as "Totoy," first revealed in a June 17 interview with GMA Integrated News that the kidnapped sabungeros were already dead, having been strangled with wire and thrown into the lake.

Patidongan claimed that the suspects had tied the sabungeros' bodies with sandbags to prevent them from floating.