SAN FERNANDO, Philippines -- President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is expected to visit the site where the MV Princess of the Stars sank and could meet with relatives of the victims, her press secretary said Tuesday.

The Sulpicio Lines ferry, carrying more than 850 passengers and crew, sank on June 21, at the height of typhoon “Frank” (international codename: Fengshen), off Sibuyan Island in Romblon province, and most of the hundreds killed are still trapped inside the upside down vessel.

Anger has been mounting among relatives over the slow-moving rescue operation, which was halted on Friday amid safety fears after it was revealed that the ferry was illegally carrying 10 tons of the toxic pesticide endosulfan.

Arroyo, fresh from an official visit to the United States, is expected to travel with a medical mission to Sibuyan, Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said.

Details of the visit are still being worked out, Dureza said, but she is likely to head there after presiding Tuesday over a cabinet meeting in Iloilo City, which bore the brunt of Frank.

"She will go near the site of the sinking of the Sulpicio vessel. The idea is to meet with some of the relatives there in Sibuyan but that is still very tentative. It was mentioned by her so everybody started preparing," he said.

Arroyo has expressed anger over why the ferry was allowed to set sail from Manila when the typhoon was bearing down, and an inquiry is being conducted into the sinking.

The typhoon tore through the central and eastern Philippines, causing widespread destruction and leaving 540 dead as well as those on the ferry. Only 57 people survived the sinking and more than 161 bodies have been recovered.

An Interpol team has been dispatched to help in the recovery and identification of the victims, the global police agency said on Monday.

The team arrived Sunday on the central island of Cebu at the request of the Philippines government, the agency based in the French city of Lyon said.

Recovery efforts remained suspended Tuesday while officials awaited the results of tests on water taken from inside the ferry to determine if the cargo of toxic pesticide was leaking out.

The samples, taken after a specialist salvage team drilled small holes into the hull, have been sent to Manila for testing.

"If it tests positive for toxic contanimants, then the next step would be to re-float the vessel by a salvage company," said diving supervisor Ruben Jaciel.

"If it is not toxic, we will open a window large enough for divers to enter the vessel and locate the container [containing the chemicals]," he said.

Divers have reported seeing many bodies floating inside the hull but have been unable to retrieve them due to fallen debris.

Authorities and relatives of the missing passengers had earlier been pressuring Sulpicio Lines to recover the bodies as soon as possible so they could be identified and buried.

Sulpicio Lines safety engineer Nelson Morales said the decision on what to do with the ferry was no longer in their hands.

"Our role now is limited because we have already abandoned the ship. When the captain of the vessel declared the ship abandoned and it sank, it is now the insurers' turn to take over," he said.

A senior maritime official previously charged that Sulpicio Lines was deliberately avoiding the re-floating of the vessel so they could claim it as a total loss for insurance purposes.