The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) finally used its remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to hasten the search for the remains of missing cockfighting enthusiasts (sabungeros) in Taal Lake, Batangas on Tuesday, July 15.

The submersible drone arrived at the diving site in Brgy. Balakilong, Laurel, Batangas on Monday afternoon but it had to be tested first by the PCG operators to make sure that it would locate suspicious objects or evidence submerged deep within Taal’s lakebed.

“This will help us determine its effectiveness in possibly locating items at the bottom of the lake and within the designated search area,” said Lt. Junior Grade Dawn Baterbonia, spokesperson of the Coast Guard District Southern Tagalog (CGDST).

The PCG released footage of the ROV during its launch and evaluation at the dive site.

In the footage, a PCG personnel could be seen launching the yellow-colored underwater drone into the murky waters of Taal Lake. Slowly, it made its way deeper into the bottom of the lake while connected to a wire.

Another group of PCG personnel set up the monitor from which the ROV projected everything that it saw through a camera equipped in its body.

Earlier, the PCG said the ROV is capable of “seeing” and searching for suspicious underwater objects up to 1,000 feet. It also has clamps that can pick up and carry objects up to 10 kilos, and a monitor for visual controls.

Meanwhile, the PCG assigned a hyperbaric doctor on site to safeguard the health of technical divers should decompression treatment be required.

According to PCG spokesperson Captain Noemie Cayabyab, the temperature at the bottom of the lake ranges from 30 to 32 degrees Celsius.

Taal Volcano is currently placed under Alert Level 1 by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), signaling heightened volcanic unrest.

“Top most priority ng pamunuan ng PCG is really the safety and kalusugan ng ating technical divers. Mayroon tayong hyperbaric doctor sa area. Before and after the diving operation, mayroong tumitingin para matiyak ang kabuuang health ng ating divers (The priority of the PCG leadership is truly the safety and well-being of our technical divers. We have a hyperbaric doctor on site. Before and after the diving operation, we have someone who monitors the divers to assess their overall health),” PCG spokesperson Captain Noemie Cayabyab said.

Cayabyab said the search and retrieval operation will continue until the Department of Justice (DOJ) orders the PCG to conclude the operation.

So far, a total of five sacks containing burned human and animal remains, and stones have been recovered by PCG divers from Taal Lake.

The human remains were submitted to the Philippine National Police – Forensic Group for technical examination.