Interpol offers assistance to identify Tropical Storm ‘Sendong’ victims

MANILA, Philippines—The International Police (Interpol) has offered additional assistance in helping the Philippine National Police (PNP) identify victims of floods caused by Tropical Storm “Sendong” in Mindanao, the PNP said in a statement Tuesday.

“The Interpol General Secretariat offered additional assistance in Disaster Victim Identification (DVI),” Police Chief Superintendent Agrimero Cruz Jr. said in the statement.

“DVI is the scientific procedure which involved DNA profiling, fingerprint and dental comparison to obtain conclusive identifications,” he said.

“It takes considerable time to reach possible identification for each victim, which heavily depends on the accessibility, quality and availability of relevant supporting evidence and the processing of forensic samples,” he added.

Retired Police Director Felizardo M. Serapio Jr., head of Interpol Manila, had sent a letter to the PNP requesting for “support from the PNP as needed for immediate and accurate completion of victim’s identification,” the statement said.

PNP Chief Director General Nicanor Bartolome has granted Inteporl’s request in order to have a “speedy identification process [and enable] the victims to recover and to rebuild their lives again,” he said in the statement.

Tropical storm Sendong has claimed more than a thousand lives and wiped out entire villages situated near rivers in Cagayan de Oro and Iligan cities in Northern Mindanao.