Palace: Identification of corpses ‘might take some time’

Sec. Herminio Coloma. PHOTO BY LYN RILLON

MANILA, Philippines—The identification of the dead victims from Supertyphoon Yolanda “might take some time” as the government prepares a system in processing the bodies, Malacañang said Sunday.

With this, the Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. appealed the public for patience, assuring the government has a system in place to “process and identify” the Yolanda fatalities.

Coloma said in an interview with state-run dzRB Radyo ng Bayan that the Departments of Health and the Interior and Local Government were tasked by the Palace to implement the system.

“Authorities are doing all they can to complete the processing of the remains. The government’s aim is to ensure the health and safety of people, “he said.

In previous news reports, seven weeks after the Yolanda onslaught, about 1,400 fatalities remain unburied in Tacloban City alone, causing inconvenience to residents.

The strongest typhoon to make landfall has left more than 6,150 dead with Tacloban City as its hardest-hit area.

The Bureau of Fire Protection, an agency under the DILG, has a systematic manner of identifying the deceased, said Coloma.

“The BFP may need some time to complete its task because of the high number of fatalities,” he added.

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