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Number of persons compared to skeletal remains retrieved from Taal Lake still unknown -- DOJ

Philippines | National

Number of persons compared to skeletal remains retrieved from Taal Lake still unknown -- DOJ

By Jeffrey Damicog

Investigative agencies have yet to determine how many persons the human skeletal remains retrieved so far from Taal Lake in Batangas belonged to.

Sacks of human skeletal remains have been recovered from the lake since retrieval operations were conducted almost a month ago for the remains of the missing “sabungeros,” said Department of Justice Assistant Secretary Jose Domic F. Clavano IV.

“We have yet to really determine how many bodies we are talking about given the remains that we have seen, given the number of bones that we have recovered,” Clavano said during a press briefing on Thursday afternoon, August 7.

“So that is something that will be very important for us to know and determine kung gaano karami talagang tao ang pinag-uusapan dito (on how many people we are talking about here),” he added.

The search started last July 10 based on information from whistleblower Julie “Dondon” Patidongan who claimed that the bodies of the missing “sabungeros” were dumped into Taal Lake.

Clavano said the DOJ has continually been updated by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) concerning the retrieval of skeletal remains including some pieces of clothing and other personal things.

He also said the DOJ has asked the University of the Philippines (UP) and the Japanese government to help in the forensic examination of the skeletal remains.

He noted that Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla has acknowledged the statements of Philippine National Police (PNP) that it could not do the DNA analysis due to the incapability of the PNP Forensics Group.

“So, we are currently asking help from UP’s Anthropology Department as well as the Forensics Pathology Department through Dr. Raquel Fortun. We are also asking the Japanese government for help in analyzing the remains,” he added.

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