Since July, divers have uncovered hundreds of skeletal fragments from its depths – and with them, an extraordinary story of gambling scams, alleged police pay-offs and men who never came home.
Investigators believe the ribs, skulls and other bones found may belong to at least 35 sabungeros, or cockfighting enthusiasts, who vanished in a trail of intrigue, money and murder stretching back more than three years.
A deadly legacy
The volcano at the lake’s centre is notorious as the nation’s deadliest, having caused more than 6,000 fatalities across centuries of eruptions. Yet around its shores in Batangas province small communities have flourished, making a living from fishing and tourism.
That balance between violent history and daily sustenance has been shaken in recent months, however, as police and prosecutors pursue one of the country’s most disturbing murder investigations in decades – a saga entangling gambling tycoons, celebrities and senior police officers.
Investigators believe the missing cock fighters were targeted after trying to trick gambling magnate Charlie “Atong” Ang by diverting online wagers from his cockfighting website to a fake portal, according to testimony given before a Senate committee in July.
A former aide to Ang variously known as Totoy, Dondon, or by his birth name Julie Patidongan, told lawmakers the men were strangled with wires, their bodies stuffed into sacks and then dumped in the lake on Ang’s orders. At least 35 of the missing sabungeros were victims of the plot, he alleged.
