Fifteen police officers are under investigation in the Philippines, following the disappearance of dozens of people linked to rooster fighting, a lucrative industry in the country.
Research to find the bodies of the missing started Thursday in a lake south of the capital, Manila.
The victims disappeared in 2022, but the case returned to the front of the stage last month with the story of a witness to the local GMA chain.
In this interview, Julie ‘Dondon’ Patidongan said that at least 100 people had been murdered by police officers working clandestinely for an online rooster fighting organizer. The victims were said to have been killed for their presumed involvement in a matches, she explained.
Popular practice
Core fighting is popular in the country. Each week, Philippins from all backgrounds are betting millions of dollars on matches between Gallinaceae, which fight to death with sharp metallic spurs attached to their legs.
Julie ‘Dondon’ Patidongan also claimed to know where to find the bodies of the missing in Lake Taal, two hours from the capital. Words taken very seriously by the authorities.
The spokesman for the Ministry of Justice Dominic Clavano said Thursday that the research started constituted ‘a step in the right direction (…) but we will not stop there. This is not our only track ‘.
Race against time
The clock turns for the authorities, as the typhoon season approaches. ‘We act quickly to at least try to locate the bodies. We know that it is very, very difficult, “Nicolas Torre Nicolas Torre.
The Minister of Justice said Friday that he had asked for help from Japan, in particular to map the bottom of the lake, which reached 172 meters deep in places.
For the families of the victims, the priority is to be able to bury their loved ones, said Charlene Lasco, whose disappeared brother worked for rooster fights broadcast live.
‘We are happy that (the government) does its best to locate (the bodies) and resolve this affair, “she said at the headquarters of the national police in Manila.
Prohibited but still broadcast
Rooster fights, prohibited in many countries, have survived the restrictions imposed by the COVVI-19 pandemic by launching on the internet, thus attracting a growing number of bettors who bet using their mobile phone.
Ex-President Rodrigo Duterte had prohibited the live dissemination of these fights, shortly before leaving power in 2022. But this practice continues, due to a lax application of the law.
/ATS
