3 bodies exhumed in search for missing sabungeros

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3 bodies exhumed in search for missing sabungeros

Dennis Datu,

ABS-CBN News

 | 

Updated Jul 17, 2025 10:05 AM PHT

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MANILA — Authorities on Wednesday exhumed the bodies of three suspected victims of summary execution in Laurel, Batangas as part of the search for dozens of missing sabungeros. 

Magdaleno Salamatin, a worker at the Laurel Public Cemetery, said he could not recall the exact date when he was told to prepare graves for the three men. 

“Hindi naman ho lahat sabay-sabay ‘yan, tatlo ‘yan,” he said.

Police officers at the cemetery declined to give more details on the exhumation. 

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But an ABS-CBN News source confirmed that the move was related to the search for cockifighting enthusiasts who were allegedly murdered by rogue police. 

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla earlier in the day also said authorities were exhuming three bodies from around Taal Lake as part of the search for the missing sabungeros.

“Yung mga nahanap sa isang parte ng Batangas na hindi na-claim, tatlong tao 'to, ang usual dyan, pinalilibing ng pulisya kapag walang nag-claim sa punerarya, so pinapa-exhume natin ngayon,” Remulla said.

(We are exhuming remains found in part of Batangas that were not claimed. Usually, the police have bodies buried if they are not claimed from the funeral homes)

Meanwhile, search teams continued scouring Taal Lake, where suspected human bones were found last week. 

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Several police officers are under investigation over a spate of mysterious disappearances in 2022 in the country's huge cockfighting industry.

The case erupted back into the public consciousness last month with the televised appearance of a witness claiming to know where bodies had been submerged in Lake Taal.

As many as 100 people were murdered over their alleged involvement in match-fixing, killed by police moonlighting for an online cockfight operator, according to witness Julie "Dondon" Patidongan. 

Remulla has since said that "multiple witnesses" could identify the location of those missing in the lake, which spans more than 230 square kilometers. 

— With reports from Adrian Ayalin, ABS-CBN News; Agence France-Presse 

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