After months of planning and waiting, the bodies of the victims of the Sulpicio Lines Princess of the Stars tragedy will finally be retrieved. The question is, isn’t this a bit too late?
We have heard the cries of many Filipinos in the past months and apparently this stems from the fact that they lost their loved ones but have yet to determine if they are indeed among the casualties. Expecting that most of the corpses that they will find will be beyond recognition, retrieval operations are expected to have their work cut out for them especially upon identification of the bodies that are sure to have decayed beyond recognition by now.
Issues such as poisonous chemicals and all have delayed the retrieval operations in Romblon and to safeguard the nearby areas, the need to first take out the chemicals was the priority. It is indeed hard to accept and understand the logic but basing it in general, it would be best to look out for the safety of the nearby towns before addressing the bodies of the dead who were trapped inside the vessel.
For proper identification of the bodies, requirements such as birth certificates, dental records and blood samples were required before the bodies can be released to their families. At this point, you would have to wonder if it still makes sense since the only confirmed thing is that they lost a lot of loved ones from this unexpected tragedy.
Originally posted on October 25, 2008 @ 9:36 am