The Philippines’ justice secretary said Friday he has asked for Japan’s technical assistance to help the search for dozens of cockfighting participants allegedly killed by rogue police and dumped in a lake south of Manila.
The case is tied to a spate of mysterious disappearances in 2022 in the Southeast Asian nation’s huge cockfighting industry, known locally as “sabong.”
Interest in the unsolved cases has surged since the televized appearance of a witness — since identified as Julie “Dondon” Patidongan, a recent mayoral candidate — who claimed to know where bodies had been submerged in Lake Taal.
Justice Secretary Crispin Remulla said Friday he now had multiple witnesses who could “testify where (in the water) those missing persons were thrown”.
He added that a group of 15 unnamed national police officers were under investigation and put on restricted duty.
“They carried out the executions,” he said.
“I just signed a letter for the Japanese government asking for assistance to enable us to do a lakebed mapping and… other technology that we need,” Remulla added.
“We need a scientific approach here. We cannot leave it to chance.”
Located about two hours south of the capital, Taal Lake is home to an active island volcano and spans more than 89 square miles with a depth of 564 feet in some places.
Carola Frentzen/picture alliance via Getty Images 
Patidongan initially appeared in silhouette in an interview on local television outlet GMA before later revealing himself, saying he feared for his life.
He has identified Charlie Ang, a man involved in livestreamed cockfighting operations, as the mastermind behind the disappearances.
Ang has denied all charges and on Thursday filed a lawsuit accusing Patidongan, a former employee, of slander, threats and conspiracy to commit robbery.
The justice department made a series of arrests in late 2022 of police and security personnel allegedly involved with the disappearance of 34 cockfight industry participants that Remulla said were “probably dead”.
Since his televized appearance, Patidongan has claimed the actual number could be as high as 100.
Filipinos from all walks of life wager millions of dollars on matches every week between roosters who fight to the death with razor-sharp metal spurs tied to their legs.
The sport, banned in many other countries, survived coronavirus pandemic restrictions by going online, drawing many more gamblers who use their mobile phones to place wagers.
A 2022 Senate investigation revealed that daily bets on online cockfights tallied $52.4 million, the BBC reported. But after the men disappeared, the livestreamed fights came under scrutiny and former president Rodrigo Duterte eventually banned them, according to the BBC.
In 2020, a police officer in the Philippines was killed during a raid on an illegal cockfight after a rooster’s blade sliced his femoral artery.
Aaron Favila / AP 
Cockfighting operations have also made headline in the U.S. recently.
Last month, more than 40 people were arrested after a cockfighting ring was broken up in South Florida.
Earlier this year, hundreds of birds were euthanized after a joint investigation led to their seizure from an alleged cockfighting operation in Kansas.
