Kin of victims claim remains three months after collision

Vilma Maligro was teary-eyed as she claimed the remains of her 78-year-old mother Agatona Lafuente that was identified through DNA testing.

Maligro, a native of Bayogan, Agusan del Sur, said while she was relieved that she found her mother she could only mourn her death and the deaths of her husband Hilario and son, Mark Christian.

“I couldn’t understand what I feel. I feel so sad after learning about her fate. I thought she survived,” Maligro told reporters in Cebuano yesterday.

She and her family rode the MV St. Thomas Aquinas passenger vessel that collided with the MV Sulpicio Express Siete cargo ship off Lauis Ledge, Talisay City last Aug. 16.

After exhuming her mother’s remains at past 1 p.m., Maligro had the body brought to Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes for cremation last night.

She planned to bring the ashes to Agusan del Norte tomorrow.

Maligro said she was informed about the DNA test results by the PNP Crime Laboratory last week.

She recalled that her mother, husband and son were on different decks when the collision took place.

“I headed below deck and grabbed the railings. I couldn’t remember what happened next,” she said.

Maligro said she swam until she was rescued by fishermen.

The PNP Crime Laboratory-7 identified six out of the 50 victims of the ill-fated M/V St. Thomas Aquinas based on results of cross-matching of the DNA samples submitted to their office.

Only five names were released because the PNP Crime Lab have to match their records to the case numbers of the last two remains.

Aside from Maligro’s mother, other identified victims were Wu Cheixin, Alma Pomoy, Jeruld Hotahot, Pilar Jualo and Delia Galandrina.

Chief Insp. Benjamin Lara, medico-legal-officer of the PNP Crime Laboratory lowered the number of unidentified victims from 53 to 50 after confirming that some body parts belonged to Pomoy.

Lara said they don’t have a definite date on finishing the DNA cross-matching samples because they have to test all specimens submitted by the families. Correspondents Chito Aragon and Michelle Joy L. Padayhag