PCG divers recover 2 more sacks of ‘suspicious objects’

As the technical diving continued on Friday to locate the remains of missing sabungeros, Philippine Coast Guard divers discovered two sacks containing “suspicious objects.”

Based on the report of Philippine Coast Guard District Southern Tagalog Commander Commodore Geronimo Tuvilla, another two sacks were recovered by the diving teams in the waters off Balakilong, Laurel, Batangas.

Tuvilla said the recovered sacks, placed in body bags after recovery, will undergo forensic investigation to determine what objects are inside them.

“The sacks contain suspicious objects. They were found by our divers in murky water, which is why they had a hard time determining it. They were buried in mud. The SOCO will determine what is inside the sacks,” Tuvilla said, adding that rounds of water inspection will be done in the coming days.

“We will try everything we can to check the bottom of the lake and to ease the worries of the families. We cannot (really) say whether there are 34 or 100 sacks dumped here. That’s why we are inspecting the waters,” he said.

He noted that the operation is unusual and is not only looking for cadavers that are victims of a crime.

To recall, authorities are searching Taal Lake following the confession of whistleblower Julie "Dondon" Patidongan that the missing sabungeros, who were abducted from 2021 to 2022, were dumped there.