Retrieved bodies from MV Princess in Cebu today

CEBU CITY — Some 127 bodies and body parts retrieved from the capsized MV Princess of the Stars are expected to be brought today to Cebu City from Sibuyan Island in Romblon, authorities said.

Acting Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said the city is ready for the arrival of the bodies that were retrieved in the capsized vessel.

He expressed sadness over the fact that the retrieval operation recovered only less than half of the expected 500 bodies trapped in the vessel.

"If the salvaging team decides to end its operations, Sulpicio Lines and other agencies concerned should explain to the families of the still missing victims why the choose to discontinue the retrieval," Rama said.

The salvage company, Harbor Star, said the advanced decomposition of the bodies in the vessel due to sea water made the recovery very hard. The presence of endosulfan also delayed the retrieval operations.

Rama said, however, the city government has already mapped out plans for the arrival of the bodies and body parts that were retrieved from the capsized MV Princess of the Stars.

Rama said Cebuanos need not worry about health concerns with the arrival of the bodies and body parts, noting that the Department of Health (DoH) has assured the city government that the bodies that will be brought to Cebu are not contaminated with the poisonous chemical endosulfan.

"The city is ready, and the DoH has assured us that the bodies are not contaminated and will not pose any health risk to the Cebuanos," said Rama.

The recovered remains will be stored in the mobile morgue facilities prepared by the Disaster Victims Identification (DVI) unit located at the Cebu International Port.

Samples of the recovered bodies would then be sent to Sarajevo, Bosnia for DNA testing to identify the victims.

Supt. Anthony Obenza, chief of the Philippine Center on Transnational Crime-Visayas Field Office and PRO 7 information officer, said preparations for the arrival of the dead bodies are already under way.

Meanwhile, Rama advised the families and relatives of those still missing not to travel yet to Cebu pending the identification of the bodies.

Rama said it would be useless for families to go to the port area in Cebu where the mobile morgue is situated because they will not be allowed to enter the compound.

He said relatives and families should instead wait for an official call from the Disaster Victim Identification Team, composed of the International Police and the National Bureau of Investigation, to claim the bodies of their loved ones.

There were 850 passengers and crew members on board when the Stars capsized in the waters off Sibuyan Island in Romblon last June 21. Thirty were reported to have survived the tragedy.