Overview

• Search teams from the Department of Justice started surveying Lake Taal on July 10 to identify target areas, assess water conditions and measure depths for body recovery
• The operation is guided by a television witness and other informants who say they can pinpoint where remains were submerged in the 230-square-kilometer lake
• Fifteen police officers are under formal investigation for alleged extrajudicial killings of underground cockfighting participants during disappearances in 2022
• Authorities acknowledge the logistical difficulty of searching deep, expansive waters and are accelerating work to avoid disruption by incoming storms
• Families of the missing are pressing for swift recovery efforts and proper burials ahead of the approaching typhoon season