Relatives still hopeful bodies will be found

Two weeks after the sinking of MV St. Thomas Aquinas, relatives are still hopeful of being reunited with their missing loved ones.

Luzviminda Guarte of Surigao City is hoping her daughter Mary Grezel Amoguis, 25, will be found by technical divers doing retrieval work in Lauis Ledge off the coast of Talisay City, Cebu.

Guarte has submitted to DNA testing which will be matched to DNA samples taken from unidentified victims who are already in an advanced state of decomposition.

Mary Grezel was bound for Manila to apply for a job, leaving behind her four-year-old daughter in her mother’s care.

Guarte told Cebu Daily News that with her daughter gone she will need to work hard for her 4-year old grandchild’s future.

Luzviminda said that her family received Php 5,000.00 as initial assistance from 2Go shipping company and is set to claim an additional Php 6,000.00 as reimbursement for baggage loss.

Retrieval

Three more bodies were recovered by divers yesterday bringing the death toll to 97 and missing at 40.

Lieutenant Commodore Noel Escalona, operations officer of the Naval Forces Central has issued a call for more volunteer deep-sea divers as the current pool of divers need to rest from their constant immersion underwater.

“If there are any qualified deep-sea divers, they may reach us at the Naval Task Group,” he said, adding that the divers must be able to dive to a depth of 150 feet. /with Inquirer reports