Cam: Exhuming bodies a waste of time, useless

CEBU, Philippines – “It’s a waste of time and an exercise in futility.”

This was how the medico legal officer of the National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas described the move to exhume the 36 unidentified cadavers, believed to be victims of the MV Princess of the Stars tragedy, for pathological and anthropological examinations to identify them.

Dr. Rene Cam, who is also a member of the NBI Disaster Victims Identification team which worked to identify the bodies, said the methods that the independent forensic group tapped by the Public Attorney’s Office and the relatives of the remaining missing passengers will use were already done by them.

“Kanang ilang buhaton karon gibuhat na pod na namo,” Cam told The Freeman.

Cam explained that anthropology has its own limitations especially that the physical condition of the cadavers is already decomposing. According to Cam, the identity of the person cannot be ascertained using the skeletal remains.

He said the skeletons maybe helpful to identify whether it is male or female but it does not provide conclusions that it is that of Juan de la Cruz.

Cam said that the NBI-DVI team tried to take samples from the cadavers but the physical condition hindered them.

This prompted the NBI-DVI team to resort to the Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) matching. The process, Cam said, follow the international protocol used in the identification of disaster victims.

Cebu City Councilor Gerardo Carillo, who has been a witness how the NBI-DVI conducted the identification of the victims, said it is unfair and misleading for the PAO to claim that the NBI and the Interpol relied only on the DNA matching.

Carillo said he witnessed how the DVI team gathered all the medical and dental records of the missing passengers for matching. Nevertheless, Carillo said he respects the feelings of the grieving families who wanted that their missing loved ones will be identified and given a decent burial.

However, he said that they can no longer expect financial assistance from the City Government because they have already done their part. Carillo said the exhumation of the cadavers from the niches in Carreta Cemetery where they were buried should comply with all the necessary health and sanitation requirements.

Carillo said the independent forensic group led by Professor Jerome Bailen should submit a plan on how the process will be done for the city government’s approval.

Regional Trial Court Branch 10 Judge Soliver Peras granted last Monday the ex-party motion of the PAO seeking for the exhumation of the 36 unidentified cadavers buried in Carreta for examination by the independent forensic group for purposes of identification.

The independent forensic group composed of Bailen together with doctors Erwin Erfe, Benito Molino and Anastacio Rosete is expected to start the exhumation in the third week of July. – Fred P. Languido/NLQ (THE FREEMAN)