DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 25 January) — Teeth and bone samples were collected on Sunday from the five cadavers believed to have been among the missing passengers and crew members of the ill-fated M/Bca Amejara, to establish their identities through deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA testing.
A sixth cadaver was recovered on Sunday afternoon in the waters off Sarangani province, on the seventh day of the multi-agency search and mission. The body was transported to Balut Island and will be flown to Davao City on Monday.
In an interview at St. Peter’s Chapel in Panacan, Davao, Dr. Charina Labrador, medico-legal officer of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)-Davao, said the cadavers were already in a state of decomposition and were beyond recognition during examination.
She said the agency’s forensics team will also conduct ante-mortem DNA testing on the relatives of the victims.
According to Labrador, a total of 30 samples will be collected from relatives, or two samples per family, referring to the 15 persons on board the recreational boat. (On Sunday afternoon, the Coast Guard released a timeline indicating 16 passengers and crew members were on board the recreational boat. One was rescued and six bodies have been recovered, leaving nine more persons unaccounted for).
The boat left Santa Ana Wharf in Davao City at 8 p.m. on January 17, bound for Governor Generoso, Davao Oriental to go fishing. It left port without the necessary permit and was reported missing on January 19 after encountering rough sea conditions while traversing Davao Gulf.
Some of the family members arrived at the funeral home.
She said some of the relatives are scheduled to provide their samples at the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD)-Davao on Monday.
According to Labrador, all DNA samples will be brought to the NBI’s DNA laboratory in Manila once the collection from family members is completed, which is expected within the week.
All the cadavers were brought to Balut Island, where they were airlifted at 7:49 a.m. on Sunday aboard a Philippine Air Force Black Hawk 101 helicopter, and arrived at the Tactical Operations Group (TOG)-Davao at 8:45 a.m. They were later transported in two military trucks and arrived at the funeral home at 9:09 a.m. for identification and disposition.
Another long wait
But it will be another long wait for relatives of those who were on board M/Bca Amejera.
Labrador said the NBI will do everything it can to expedite the identification of the cadavers at the soonest possible time, but noted that it normally takes at least a month before the results of the DNA tests are completed.
She added that if “the reference samples match, the results can be released quickly, provided that reagents and manpower are available in Manila and the laboratory is not overloaded.”
“The process may take anywhere from one month to a year, but since we only have a few cases, we will make sure to expedite it,” he said.
Labrador added that the forensics team will also consider secondary parameters in identifying the victims, such as their clothing, tattoos, and scars.
“If we ever find a tattoo and the family has reported the same description, we will call the family to double- check,” she said.
The cadavers were spotted by fishing vessels of the Salazar fishing fleet, owned by a member of the Philippine Coast Guard Auxiliary. The recovered bodies were subsequently turned over to the Philippine Navy Vessel PS 37 (BRP Artemio Ricarte) for transport and transfer.
According to the Coast Guard District Southeastern Mindanao (CGDSEM), an Islander 251, a fixed-wing aircraft conducting an aerial search operation, reported the sighting of one more “floating body beside white debris and orange colored floating objects.”
Five cadavers
During a press conference via Zoom on Sunday afternoon, Lt. Jason Lavadia, acting commander of Coast Guard Station Davao, said the Coast Guard received a report at 8:59 a.m. on Saturday regarding the sighting of the four cadavers at 60.2 nautical miles south of Maguling Point, Maitum, Sarangani Province.
Of the total people on board M/Bca Amejara, one was rescued at 10:46 a.m. on January 20.
Lavadia said that at 6:07 p.m. on Saturday, the BRP Tagbanua recovered the fifth cadaver, about 10 nautical miles from where the other bodies were recovered.
6th cadaver
Lavadia informed reporters via Viber that the sixth cadaver was sighted at 1:04 p.m., about 43 nautical miles southwest of Buca Point in Maasim, Sarangani.
He said the body was retrieved by DA BFAR MCS 3010 and later transferred to PCG BRP Panglao, which then proceeded to Balut Island.
During a press conference via Zoom, Commodore Philipps Soria, Commander of the Coast Guard District Southeastern Mindanao (CGDSEM), added that the search and rescue operations will continue on Monday.
“We are not losing hope that we will find survivors. We are not giving up. The human spirit to fight and survive is very high. We are hoping they are still there,” he said. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
