THE ongoing search for missing sabungeros in Taal Lake has uncovered a grim find: 401 “human skeletal remains,” a DOJ official revealed.
DOJ Assistant Secretary Eliseo Cruz disclosed the figure to lawmakers during a House committee on human rights hearing on the case of the missing sabungeros on Wednesday, citing data from the Philippine National Police (PNP) Forensic Group.
Cruz stated that from July 10 to the present, the PNP Forensic Group has recorded the recovery of 401 pieces of human skeletal remains from 17 different locations by the Philippine Coast Guard.
He added that the recovered sacks containing the human skeletal remains are usually tied to or attached to sacks of sand that served as sinkers, with each sinker sandbag being approximately the size of a 25-kilogram rice sack. Of the 401 human bone fragments recovered, PNP Forensic Group director Brig. Gen. Danilo Cruz said 163 skeletal remains had undergone cross-matching with DNA samples collected from 29 relatives of the missing sabungeros.
metrosundaily
