‘Missing sabungeros tied to sandbags’

MANILA, Philippines — The 34 missing cockfight enthusiasts or sabungeros were tied to sandbags before they were dumped in Taal Lake in Batangas by their killers, according to one of the suspects who wants to be a state witness.

The suspect, identified as alias Totoy, said the killers used sandbags to keep the bodies from floating to the surface.

Earlier, Totoy said one of the 34 missing sabungeros was kidnapped for allegedly stealing and pirating videos of online sabong.

He said the victim, online sabong agent Ricardo Lasco, was kidnapped in August 2021 in San Pablo, Laguna by police officers who posed as agents of the National Bureau of Investigation.

Totoy showed a video of Lasco, with the victim’s face covered in a mask.

The video came from one of the leaders of the team who kidnapped Lasco, Totoy said.

He said Lasco was dragged into a vehicle where he was interrogated by his captors.

Totoy said two of the missing victims who were minors suffered the same fate.

The minors, who were from Catanauan, Quezon, were last seen in a cockfight arena in Santa Cruz, Laguna in December 2021.

Totoy told relatives of the minors that the victims are dead.

“I’m sorry, but none of the 34 sabungeros survived. They are all dead,” he said.

Totoy, one of the six security guards at the Manila Arena, started giving information to a television network on Tuesday night, wherein he claimed the missing sabungeros were strangled with a wire and their bodies were buried in Taal Lake.

He and the other guards were charged with kidnapping and serious illegal detention in connection with the disappearance of the sabungeros.

A Manila court allowed the guards to post bail for their temporary liberty.

However, the Court of Appeals canceled the suspects’ bail on request of relatives of the victims.

The Department of Justice earlier sought the recapture of the guards.

Totoy said he wants to become a state witness because he fears for his life.