Taal Lake in Batangas province. Photo by Niño Jesus Orbeta/Philippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines — The 34 missing sabungeros, or cockfighting enthusiasts, are already dead and have been buried in Taal Lake in Batangas province, according to one of the suspects who now wants to testify.
“Alias Totoy,” one of the six security guards accused of abducting the cockfighting enthusiasts, said they used a tie wire to strangle the cockfighting enthusiasts.
“How can they survive when they were already buried in Taal Lake?” Totoy said in Filipino in an exclusive interview with GMA News aired on Wednesday.
“All of them. If we dig them up, it’s just bones. How can we recognize them? And it’s not just missing cockfighting enthusiasts who are being thrown there, even drug lords,” he added.
The suspect also revealed that the total number of victims exceeds 100.
In 2021, authorities confirmed that at least 34 cockfighting enthusiasts had disappeared.
READ: CA affirms no-bail ruling for 6 in ‘sabungeros’ case
“I was surprised—why was it so fast? For example, eight? That was quick. I said, ‘Maybe you let them go. We’ll be in trouble with the boss,’ I told them. ‘No, we have a video,’ they said. They sent me the video. That’s when I saw how it happened,” Totoy said.
According to Totoy, he would speak with individuals caught cheating in cockfights and then turn them over “to another group of persons,” whom he has yet to identify.
“What they did was tie them up with plastic restraints and load them into a van,” he said.
Totoy said he decided to testify because of the threats he and his family have been receiving.
‘Justice for the missing sabungeros’
Totoy also spoke with the families of some of the missing cockfighting enthusiasts, promising to coordinate with them in the pursuit of justice.
“To the mothers and relatives, I am ready to cooperate with you in the pursuit of justice,” he said.
He added that he had already included the details of how the victims were killed in his affidavit, which would be submitted to authorities.
He also vowed to reveal the masterminds behind the killings.
READ: Remulla on missing sabungeros: It’s a case of mass murder
The Department of Justice described the case as “mass murder.”
“We will not stop. We will try to obtain justice. This matter cannot be settled out of court,” Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla said.
The Court of Appeals, meanwhile, affirmed in May its decision to nullify a lower court’s grant of bail to the six suspects in the case./mcm