DIVERS have recovered 1,400 human bones from Taal Lake, the Philippine National Police (PNP) Forensics Group said Tuesday.
PNP Forensics Group (FG) director Col. Pierre Carpio told reporters at a briefing in Camp Crame that all the bones went through medico-legal, anthropological, radiographic imaging, dental and DNA testing.
Suspect-turned-whistle blower Julie “Dondon” Patidongan earlier said he had dumped dozens of bodies of missing sabungero (cockfight enthusiasts) into the Taal Lake on the orders of fugitive gambling tycoon Charlie “Atong” Ang, who he identified as the mastermind.
Carpio said the corrosion due to the presence of sulfuric acid, magnesium, aluminum and sodium, as well as the high temperature of Taal Lake, made it more difficult for the PNP FG to recover DNA profiles.
“With so many bones and all that has happened in Taal Lake in terms of the degradation of our evidence, we have developed a strategy in which we test our evidence multiple times,” Carpio said.
“So, for example, for long bones, we don’t take samples only once to submit for DNA testing,” he added.
Should any of the samples be found viable, the PNP FG may partner up with DNA testing firms from Japan or the University of the Philippines, Carpio said.
Since last year, Philippine Coast Guard technical divers have conducted extensive search operations in Taal Lake, Batangas.
Ang and 21 other respondents, mostly police officers, were charged in three separate courts in Batangas and Laguna with 26 counts of kidnapping with homicide and serious illegal detention.