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Mark Ernest Villeza - The Philippine Star
June 2, 2026 | 12:00am
Philippine coast guard personnel prepare to depart to the site where the bodies of cockfighters were allegedly dumped, in Lake Taal off Talisay town, Batangas province, South of Manila on July 10, 2025.
AFP / Ted Aljibe
MANILA, Philippines — No DNA matches have been established so far between more than 1,400 human bones recovered from Taal Lake and the relatives of missing sabungeros, the Philippine National Police said yesterday.
PNP-Forensic Group director Col. Pierre Paul Carpio said the ongoing examination remains complicated due to the extremely degraded condition of the recovered remains, which have been submerged for an extended period in a highly corrosive environment.
“So far, there are still no matches. We are conducting a comprehensive and repeated examination because of the volume and condition of the bones recovered from Taal Lake,” Carpio said.
He said investigators have adopted a multi-tiered strategy in analyzing the remains, including repeated DNA sampling of long bones and other viable specimens to maximize the chances of recovery of genetic material.
Carpio said the lake’s chemical composition has significantly affected the preservation of human remains, making DNA extraction extremely difficult.
