31 victims of Aquinas sinking still unidentified

WITH the bodies already in an advanced state of decomposition, identifying the remaining cadavers from the ill-fated MV St. Thomas Aquinas will have to be done through DNA cross matching.

Twelve days after the Aug. 16 sinking of the ship off the coast of Talisay City, 31 bodies have yet to be identified.

Of the 81 bodies recovered, 51 have been identified by the forensics team of the police.

Of those identified, 48 have been released to their families after completing paperwork needed to authenticate the identity of the victims.

Dr. Expidito Medalla, head of the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit – 7 of the Department of Health, said the process is tedious but necessary.

“The best way is to have DNA (testing) but we are asking for relatives to be patient since it takes time,” he added.

“We encouraged the siblings or parents of the victims to undergo DNA test in order to match their genes exactly,” he added.

DNA samples will be sent to Camp Crame where DNA matching will be conducted.

Dr. Rene Cam, medico-legal officer of the National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas (NBI-7), yesterday said that aside from the lengthy DNA process – which could take about a month, it is also expensive.

Half a million pesos is usually needed for 50 DNA samples.

But he promised that results of DNA testing is 99.99 percent accurate in identifying decomposed bodies. /with reports from Correspondent Jose Santino Bunachita