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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Cops facing serious challenge in generating DNA profile from bones collected from Taal Lake

Cops facing serious challenge in generating DNA profile from bones collected from Taal Lake

Published Jul 17, 2025 01:05 pm
An inter-agency search and retrieval operation is conducted by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Philippine National Police's Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG), and Department of Justice (DOJ) at the Taal Lake in Talisay, Batangas on July 10, 2025 to locate the remains of 34 missing sabungeros believed to have been killed and dumped in the lake. (Santi San Juan / MANILA BULLETIN)
An inter-agency search and retrieval operation is conducted by the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Philippine National Police's Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG), and Department of Justice (DOJ) at the Taal Lake in Talisay, Batangas on July 10, 2025 to locate the remains of 34 missing sabungeros believed to have been killed and dumped in the lake. (Santi San Juan / MANILA BULLETIN)
Police forensic experts are now facing a gargantuan task of building a DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) profile from the human bones that were collected at the Taal Lake in Batangas.
Lt. Col. Edmar de la Torre, officer-in-charge of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Forensics Group’s DNA Laboratory Division, said they were able to sort out six pieces of human bones from the 91 pieces of bone samples taken from the Taal Lake.
“We are facing challenges in generating DNA samples or profiles because they have been submerged for a long time. If the samples were submerged for that long time, it would be difficult to generate a DNA profile,” said de la Torre in a television interview.
He was referring to the claims of the witness that the cadavers were dumped into the Taal Lake four years ago.
Another challenge, he said, is that the remains were submerged under a water with Sulphur content, referring to the Taal Lake.
The PNP’s forensics team has already collected 18 DNA samples from the relatives of the missing cockfighters, or sabungeros.
But de la Torre admitted that those samples are not usable if they would not be able to generate a DNA profile from the remains since they will be used in the matching process for identification.
It takes five to seven days before a DNA profile is generated from remains and the long period of time that the human bones were submerged under a water with Sulphur content would make the entire process challenging, according to de Torre.
The case of missing sabungeros made headlines anew following the revelations made by Julie Patidongan, who used the alias “Totoy” when he disclosed information about the missing cockfighters.
Patidongan tagged at least 18 policemen and named several personalities, including Atong Ang and retired police general Jonnel Estomo.
Both Ang and Estomo denied the allegation. Ang already filed a case against Patidongan while Estomo said he is consulting his lawyers for the filing of a case.
While Patidongan already cleared Estomo, the latter said the only way he would be encouraged not to file a case against his accuser was for him to initiate more media interviews to clear his name of his alleged involvement in the case of missing sabungeros.
Estomo even presented a certification to deny Patidongan's allegation that he is a member of the top advisory group of Atong Ang on online sabong. 
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