The Philippine National Police (PNP) Forensic Group said 50 of the 71 remains recovered from the burned MV June Aster in Coron, Palawan, have been identified and cross-matched through DNA testing.
PNP Forensic Group Director Brig. Gen. Pierre Paul Carpio disclosed the figures in a press briefing on Monday.
‘So we have the remaining 21 cadavers for cross-matching,’ he added.
The PNP deployed Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) and Scene of the Crime Operations (SOCO) teams to the area to help identify the victims.
After the PNP’s DVI process, the results are submitted to the local government unit, which then coordinates with the victims’ relatives.
Carpio said the DNA identification process has not encountered significant difficulties.
‘After every case, we clean the laboratory for decontamination and sterility of the laboratory,’ Carpio said.
He added that they have all the antemortem records needed for crossmatching.
The MV June Aster, operated by Atienza Interisland Ferries, was traveling from Manila to Palawan when it caught fire on Sept. 9 and later ran aground off Coron, with 43 people surviving.
For its part, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) is looking into whether misdeclared cargo aboard the MV June Aster may have contributed to the fire that left 77 people dead.
Earlier, the PCG filed a complaint against Captain Roel Sarmiento for allegedly falsifying a public document in connection with the fire aboard the MV June Aster, which had 128 passengers and crew members.