A longtime resident of this lakeside town urged authorities and the public not to jump to conclusions about the sacks recovered from the depths of Taal Lake during the ongoing search for 34 missing cockfighting enthusiasts.

“These are fish cages,” said Aling Bebang in an interview on the sidelines of the search, pointing to a nearby floating structure. “Each corner of a cage has a sack filled with sand to weigh it down—and that’s probably what they found. It’s not from the missing men, if this is really true.”

She explained that tilapia cages float on the lake’s surface, while any bodies, if indeed dumped, would have sunk much deeper. “The cages are just on the surface. What they’re searching for is way below,” she added.

Her remarks followed the Philippine Coast Guard’s recovery of several sacks filled with heavy material during dive operations over the past weeks. The sacks, retrieved under near-zero visibility, have fueled speculation that they may be linked to the missing sabungeros who vanished in 2021 and 2022.

But residents like Aling Bebang warn that such talk is damaging — especially to Laurel’s fish farming industry, a major source of livelihood.

“Tilapia don’t eat humans. They eat pellets, that’s why they grow fat — because of what they’re fed,” she said. “Please don’t believe everything you hear. Don’t destroy our livelihood here in Taal Lake. We’ve already been hit hard.”

As of Sunday, the Philippine Coast Guard has yet to confirm whether the sacks are indeed linked to the disappearances. The search will continue, authorities said, although no new human remains have been found so far.