EDITORIAL - Cops-turned-kidnappers

Because of the enormity of the crimes, and the prolonged inability of law enforcers to solve the cases, suspicion has focused on the involvement of police officers in the disappearance of 34 cockfight enthusiasts between 2021 and 2022. Now a suspect who is turning state witness has confirmed the worst suspicions.

Based on an extrajudicial confession of the suspect identified at this point only as Totoy, the Philippine National Police said the 34, who were picked up in separate occasions, were killed by at least 30 people, about 20 of them PNP officers.

The whistle-blower said the 34 were weighed down with sandbags and tossed into Taal Lake, where bodies and objects are rarely recovered once swallowed up by the volcanic lakebed. The suspect said the victims were brought to a fishery enterprise in Batangas owned by a police officer, from where the bodies were brought out to the lake.

Totoy is one of six security guards of the Manila Arena from where several of the sabungeros were snatched. The cockpit guards face charges of kidnapping and serious illegal detention. Totoy said the guards served as accomplices in the cases, tagging the victims and helping in the actual kidnapping.

These are security guards. What about the PNP members involved?

Probers said the victims were suspected of rigging online cockfights, with PNP officers among those who lost large sums of money. A key player in gaming is also suspected of involvement in the kidnappings.

As Totoy’s story came out, PNP chief Nicolas Torre III said the details still need verification, as speculative reports swirled that the police officers involved are high in rank. The absence of corpus delicti can complicate verification of Totoy’s story. The government is reportedly considering seeking help from Japan in attempting to find the remains of the sabungeros from the bottom of Taal Lake.

Torre said caution is needed in implicating anyone in an offense that could put the perpetrator away for life. He wants evidence that will be solid enough to send the guilty to prison. But until Totoy surfaced, the case had nearly gone cold. An aggressive pursuit of the leads he has provided will show whether he is telling the truth, and whether the perpetrators will finally be brought to justice.