10 skeletal remains from wreck of Princess identified

MANILA, Philippines - Ten out of 85 skeletal remains retrieved from the M/V Princess of the Stars, which sank off Sibuyan Island in Romblon in 2008, have been identified, the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) said yesterday.

Lawyer Persida Rueda-Acosta, PAO chief, expressed hope that the rest of the skeletal remains would be identified by her agency’s forensic laboratory “on or before June 21.” 

Acosta quoted divers of the Philippine Coast Guard and salvaging firm Royal Jessan Petromin Resources Inc. (JPRI) as saying that there could still be 400 skeletal remains in the wreck of Princess of the Stars.

Acosta said they would name the 10 identified victims later.  

Operatives of the Coast Guard and JPRI started their retrieval operations during the first week of May.

The PAO has exhumed the skeletal remains of at least 38 victims of the sea tragedy that were buried in a Cebu cemetery, for anthropological and identification process, together with those retrieved from the wreck of the sunken vessel.

Acosta said the National Bureau of Investigation no longer has a role in the identification process since PAO already has its own forensic lab.

The Cebu court has directed the NBI to turn over all pieces of evidence in the ship sinking.