Underwater search begins for missing sabungeros in Taal Lake

The underwater search for the remains of missing cockfighting enthusiasts, or sabungeros, is now underway in the waters off Talisay, Batangas.

The operation began late Thursday morning, 10 July, and is being jointly conducted by the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Philippine National Police–Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG), and the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG).

As early as 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Coast Guard personnel had begun scouring the waters off Talisay to prepare for the dive.

According to the DOJ, "the basic plan is to map out the site and assess the conditions” before proceeding further with the technical dive.

The underwater operation follows revelations from Julie Patidongan, alias “Totoy,” a confessed middleman in the 2021 abductions. Patidongan told investigators the bodies were dumped in a fishpond area within Taal Lake. He also claimed the number of victims could be as high as 108 — more than triple the 34 officially documented cases.

Authorities said the search is part of ongoing efforts to resolve the years-long mystery surrounding the mass disappearance of sabungeros, a case that has remained unsolved for over three years.