Police arrested over feared killings of cockfighters
The missing people were accused of cheating in the hugely popular sport, with their bodies reportedly dumped in a scenic lake with a restive volcano.
The victims went missing about 2021 and 2022, mostly while on their way to or from cockfighting arenas dotting the main northern Philippine region of Luzon, including in the metropolitan Manila capital region.
The unresolved disappearances again drew public attention after a key witness recently surfaced and accused his former employer, a gambling tycoon, of masterminding the killings, with bodies reportedly dumped in Taal Lake south of Manila or burned elsewhere.
National police chief General Nicolas Torre III said in a news conference on Monday that a key witness, who used the alias "Totoy", provided crucial details.
The cockfighting aficionados and workers were strangled and mutilated before being dumped.
Police investigators had corroborated the details and evidence provided by the witness, which would be used in criminal complaints against the suspects, he said.
The witness has told local TV networks that he decided to speak out because his former employer was allegedly threatening to have him killed.
He said he wanted to help ease the agony of families of the victims who had been demanding justice for their missing kin.
"I was very shocked," Torre said when asked how he felt over the disclosures made by the witness, who is under police guard.
"It firmed up our resolve to really solve this because what happened was savage and not acceptable by any standard."
Criminal complaints will be filed against the influential businessman, who owns cockfighting arenas and other gambling businesses, and other suspects, Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla said.
The businessman has denied the allegations.
While banned in the United States and other Western countries largely due to animal cruelty concerns, cockfighting is a popular pastime and gambling sport in parts of Southeast Asia, Latin America and Europe.
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