NBI seeks DNA matching in Tacloban, 2T dead bodies remain unidentified

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines — To help them identify the 2,255 bodies which they have documented and processed over the last few months, the National Bureau of Investigation here is calling on families with relatives who went missing after super typhoon Yolanda.

Lawyer Romulo G. Manapsal, NBI regional director, said the Disaster Victim Identification forensics team had already finished the post-mortem phase which entails documenting, photographing and collecting tissue samples of the bodies which are now buried in mass graves in this city.

What follows would be the DNA matching with surviving kin and a scheduled collection of  DNA samples will be held from May 19 to June 12 at the Balyuan Center here. Manapsal said "disaster victim identification is an extraordinary thing to give grieving families the chance to reunite with their loved ones even for just a short time."

The NBI made this announcement in a press conference held Tuesday at the mayor's conference room. 

Lawyer Jenny Lyn Polistico-Manibay, acting city administrator of Tacloban, said the victim identification team was requested by Mayor Alfred Romualdez. "This is the least we can do to the families of the victims - to give them the comfort of closure," she said.

It was learned that no other LGU in Eastern Visayas, except for Tacloban City, has requested the NBI-DVI's expertise and that the 2,255 bodies were those recovered from the territorial jurisdiction of the city only.

Meanwhile, Dr. Charina Labrador, team leader of the NBI-DVI, said to put a system in their DNA sample collection, they are adopting alphabetical order of surnames. Survivors with surnames starting with letter A to E will be entertained on May 19-24; F-J on May 26 to 31; K-O on June 2- 7; P-T on June 9-14; U-Z on June 16 to 21.

Those who cannot make it to these dates can come anytime from June 23 to July 12, on office hours during Mondays to Fridays.

She also clarified that relatives who are staying in other places need not come over to Tacloban City but just visit their NBI offices in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. In Mindanao, however, only their office in Cagayan de Oro can entertain them because they have a chemist.

She said of the 2,255, 8 were "temporarily released" to survivors who recognized their dead from the clothes or jewelry they wore. Another 12 bodies, which were only recovered in April, have yet to be buried. 

The team's chemist, Mary Ann Aranas, on the other hand, said that only close kin of the dead can be collected DNA samples. There also have to be blood relations. Ideally, she said, it should be the mother and father or siblings. The DNA samples will come from mucosal swabs from the mouth and a few drops of  blood. /JMD (FREEMAN)