LAUREL, Batangas — A local resident has warned the authorities and the public not to be misled by the sacks retrieved from Taal Lake in the search for 34 missing cockfight enthusiasts, saying these could be standard weights used to anchor floating tilapia cages — not evidence of foul play.

Interviewed on the sidelines of the ongoing search for the missing sabungeros, the longtime lakeside resident identified as Aling Bebang pointed to a nearby floating structure and said, “These are fish cages.”

She said each corner of a cage has a sack filled with sand to weigh it down and that’s probably the sack that was found. “It’s not from the missing men — if that is really true,” she averred.

She said the cages float on the surface of the lake, while the missing men, if they were dumped there, would have sunk far below.

“The cages are just on the surface. What they’re searching for is way below,” said Aling Bebang.

Her remarks followed the Philippine Coast Guard’s recovery of several sacks filled with heavy material during dive operations at Taal Lake.

The sacks retrieved in near-zero visibility underwater fueled speculation they may be linked to the disappearance of the sabungeros who vanished in 2021 and 2022 under mysterious circumstances.

But for local residents like Aling Bebang, such speculation is damaging, especially to Laurel’s fish farming industry, the primary livelihood of many.

She said tilapia don’t eat human flesh, pointing out that they grow fat because of the commercial feeds they’re given — not from anything else.

Spreading unverified theories is unfair to the community and has already affected local businesses, she said. “Please don’t believe everything you hear. Don’t destroy our livelihood here in Taal Lake. We’ve already been hit hard.”

The recovered sacks have yet to be linked by the Coast Guard to the disappearances.

The search by the Coast Guard will continue, the authorities said, even though no human remains have been found as of Sunday.