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Manila: Only one relative succeeded in identifying one of the 49 decomposing remains of those who perished in a ship that upturned when typhoon Fengshen hit central Philippines last week, authorities said.
Noel Quirante said he was happy that his sister, Julie Mendoza, wore a name plate while on duty as parlour attendant of MV Princess of the Stars which sank off Romblon last week.
"She was not bloated. I recognised her at once. Now we can give her a proper wake and a burial," said Quirante as he left the Cosmopolitan Funeral Homes where some 49 bodies were laid as soon as they arrived in Cebu City over the weekend.
But he had to present more documents before he could claim the body of his sister for a wake at their hometown in San Jose, Negros Oriental, also in Central Philippines.
Other relatives tried in vain to identify their loved ones whose remains they thought were carried to Cebu by MV Cebu Princess, a ship also owned by Sulpicio Lines, owner of the ill-fated MV Princess of Star.
Tomoki Okabe, of Japan's Chiba City, arrived following reports that the remains of his mother Teresita, a Filipina, were already in Cebu.
"I could not find her," said Tomoki as he and her step grandmother Maria Evaquita stepped out of Cosmopolitan, the temporary place for some of the typhoon's unaccounted bodies.
"I will go to another place where some of the recovered remains were deposited. It is a sad and a tiring journey," Tomoki said.
Lost hopes
His mother Teresita was in the Philippines for a summer vacation. She and her two Filipina friends decided to buy fruits, dried fish, and souvenir items in Cebu. "She was planning to put up a souvenir shop in Japan," he explained.
Christine Corton, 18, was a picture of composure at the funeral home as she meticulously looked for tell-tale signs that one of the human remains belonged to her father, Senior Police Officer Rodolfo Corton, 56.
"He was not there," the young Corton concluded and she sobbed and left for another place to look for her lost father.
The old Corton was a policeman who went to Manila to process his retirement papers. He was coming back to Cebu when the sea tragedy occurred off Romblon province.
"I have lost four family members," wailed Hercules Condrillon, a seaman from Cebu.
"The bodies are decomposing. They are beyond recognition. The sight of dead bodies was unbearable for anyone who has been grieving for a week for the loss of loved ones," he said while sobbing.
"My wife Felomina went to Manila to purchase items that we could sell. I thought I would see her when she told us that she was coming home with many items for our store," said Rolando Vidal.
He and his son Ronald began to fast in their vain effort to locate her remains from bags of collected cadavers.
Several family members were vomiting because of the stench and the sight of decomposing relatives that were not yet identified.
Some 800 passengers of the ill-fated Princess of the Star remained missing. Some 500 people were confirmed dead from land areas which the typhoon had battered last week, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said.
- With inputs from
Rafael JuanCorrespondent
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