Between April 2021 and January 2022, 34 sabungeros, as the bettors of cockfights are known in the Philippines, inexplicably disappeared. The police pointed out from the beginning that everything could be related to a mafia plot of match-fixing during the pandemic boom of online broadcasting of these fights. But nothing was known about all these missing persons until now, when investigators are convinced that their bodies are at the bottom of one of the country's deepest lakes.
This Thursday, divers from the Philippine coast guard began to explore Taal Lake, in the province of Batangas, which houses an active island volcano, is around 170 meters deep, and extends for more than 230 square kilometers. It is suspected that the remains of the missing sabungeros are there.
This week, after a televised testimony reopened the case, authorities reported that 15 police officers had been arrested. "It was them, the corrupt police officers, who carried out the executions," said Justice Secretary, Crispin Remulla.
It all started on January 13, 2022, when six people who were at one of the stadiums in Manila where cockfights are held disappeared without a trace. The initial investigations revealed that before that date, there were several more related disappearances. They were all men who were involved in training the roosters or working on the fight preparations.
During the first year of the pandemic, when restrictions made it impossible for the public to participate in these fights, this million-dollar industry shifted to e-sabong, fights broadcast online where confined Filipinos across the country placed bets. Some of the missing persons were also teenagers who had been involved in scams connected to the bets.
Three Filipino police officers and six security guards from the venues were then arrested as suspects in the kidnappings. One of the witnesses in the case, a farmer identified as Julie Patidongan, revealed that the missing persons were dead, that they had been strangled with wires, dismembered, and then their bodies thrown into Taal Lake. He even pointed out that, in reality, the total number of victims could exceed a hundred.
In a recent television interview, Patidongan identified a well-known gambling magnate named Charlie Ang and an actress and influencer, Gretchen Barretto, as the alleged masterminds behind the crimes. Both investors, who had reportedly lost a lot of money in the online fights, would have hired the police to commit the murders. Ang responded to the accusations by filing a criminal complaint against Patidongan, accusing him of trying to extort him by demanding around five million euros in exchange for not implicating him in the case.
"Divers will start searching a fish pond owned by one of the suspects," Secretary Remulla detailed about the search in Taal Lake, which is a couple of hours' drive south of Manila.
Local media have reported that the Philippine authorities have requested assistance from Japan to send some small rescue submarines that can be used in the operation. "We are moving quickly to try to locate the bodies. We know it is a huge challenge. Additionally, the typhoon season is approaching," explained the Chief of the National Police, Nicolás Torre.
During the pandemic, then-President Rodrigo Duterte granted franchises to several companies to organize online cockfights and accept bets 24 hours a day, which boosted the popularity and profits of a bloody sport deeply rooted in Filipino culture. In these fights, roosters often fight to the death, often with sharp blades attached to their legs. Sometimes steroids are injected to enhance performance.
Duterte even claimed that the government was earning 640 million Philippine pesos (around 10 million euros) per month from cockfights. A Philippine Senate investigation revealed that daily bets in this online industry amounted to 3 billion pesos (50 million euros). Shortly before leaving office in 2022, Duterte banned the live broadcast of the fights.