CEBU CITY - The International Police (Interpol) is back in Cebu to help identify the skeletal remains retrieved from the ill-fated M/V Princess of the Stars that sunk in Sibuyan Island, Romblon.
Interpol General Secretariat Olaf Worbs said they still have to iron out issues before they can proceed with the DNA testing of the skeletal remains. The Public Attorney's Office (PAO) is currently also doing post-mortem procedures in the identification of unclaimed bodies of victims.
Worbs said the Interpol is willing to help in the identification of passengers through modern and globally-accepted DNA testing but because of "internal political issues," the team cannot do work on this as yet. There are 13 skeletal remains currently possessed by the Philippine Coast Guard in Sibuyan Island, Romblon. However, the PCG is in a quandary as to where to turn over the skeletal remains as the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and PAO are in conflict as to the possession of the remains.
Ryan Go, Vice-President of Sulpicio Lines Incorporated said the Interpol is being prevented by the PAO from taking the DNA of the remains of passengers because the PAO has already taken over the identification of unidentified cadavers last year.
RTC Branch 10 Judge Soliver Peras, who is hearing the consolidated civil cases for damages filed by the relatives of the victims has granted the ex-party motion of the Public Attorney's Office seeking for the exhumation of the unidentified bodies recently buried at the Carreta Cemetery.
