Despite being on-site for a technical assessment and accompanied by members of the media, a Department of Justice (DOJ)-led team failed to discover a white sack later found to contain suspected burned human bones—because it was a separate Philippine National Police–Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) unit stationed onshore that made the critical find.

It was discovered just a few meters from the shoreline on 10 July and was unlikely to have been washed ashore due to its weight, prompting authorities to consider the more plausible theory that it was deliberately dumped in that exact location—right in front of a public area.

“It was found near the shore,” DOJ spokesperson Mico Clavano told reporters. “So the working theory is either it was washed ashore or it was dumped only near the shore. But considering the weight of the sack, dumping is the more likely scenario.”

While the DOJ and Philippine Coast Guard teams were about 100 meters out on the lake conducting a technical site assessment, a CIDG unit, acting on intelligence about a possible jump-off point, scanned the nearby shoreline—and located the sack partially submerged and wedged against rocks.

The DOJ said the CIDG team conducted an initial inspection to determine whether the contents were human remains before any information was released to the public.

“We decided to verify first whether it was human bones or not before releasing information,” Clavano said. “When CIDG made the determination, that was when we were comfortable to release the information.”

The sack has since been turned over to forensic experts for analysis. The DOJ said it will undergo two crucial tests: first, confirmation that the remains are indeed human, and second, DNA matching to identify any possible connection to the families of missing individuals.

The discovery—made in plain sight of a public area—has raised fresh questions about whether other crucial evidence may have been missed or overlooked during earlier search efforts.