15 police officers detained over alleged killings of cockfighting fans in the Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — Fifteen police officers have been taken into custody and are being investigated for their alleged role in the abductions and feared killings of at least 34 cockfighting fans, the Philippine police chief said Monday.

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 around 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 Gen. Nicolas Torre III said in a news conference 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 have corroborated the details and evidence provided by the witness which will be used in criminal complaints to be filed by the Department of Justice 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.

Remulla said he would ask Japan to help provide technology to help look for traces of the remains of the victims, which could still be retrieved from the bottom of Taal Lake about four years after the killings.

While banned in the United States and other Western countries largely due to animal cruelty concerns, cockfighting has been a popular pastime and gambling sport in many parts of Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, Latin America and some parts of Europe.

Cockfighting arenas are found prominently in far-flung rural towns and major cities across the Philippines and draw large numbers of aficionados in an industry that has become a vibrant part of the local culture and a regulated gambling business that generates state revenues and thousands of jobs. The game involves pitting two roosters — with razor-sharp gaffs or steel blades attached to their legs — in a battle often to the death amid the roar of the crowd.

The missing cockfighting aficionados and workers were accused of cheating by discreetly taking steps to weaken one rooster or diminishing its chances of winning, including by slightly injuring it, then betting on the other rooster.