Bodies still being retrieved from sunken MV Princess of the Stars—PAO chief

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MANILA, Philippines – Three years after the MV Princess of the Stars sank off Romblon, the Public Attorney’s Office, in coordination with the Philippine Coast Guard, hasn’t stopped retrieving bodies from the sunken vessel, PAO chief Persida Acosta told 990AM Tuesday.

“We have recovered at least 38 cadavers, three of them were identified,” said Acosta on the third year anniversary of the sinking of the MV Princess of the Stars on June 21, 2008 at the height of Typhoon Frank (International codename: Fengshen) while enroute to Cebu City with 820 people on board. Only 32 survived.

“We still get more body parts; we even got one whole body of a tall man of about six feet,” Acosta said, adding that there was no means of identifying the victim.

She added that after the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Sulpicio Lines Inc. (SLI), renamed Span Asia Carrier Corp., stopped retrieving bodies, PAO and the PCG asked the Department of Justice (DoJ) to allow them conduct their own retrieval operations.

More than 70 cases have since been filed against Span Asia, Acosta said as a court hearing is scheduled this Tuesday.

Acosta also said that former NBI medico-legal officer, Dr. Renato Bautista, did not surrender the needed documents and files despite being ordered by the court. “He was ordered to surrender all the medical and dental records of the victims on July 9, 2009 but have yet to submit them.”