Rama upset by decision to exhume unidentified victims of Stars sinking

CEBU, Philippines – “Don’t call on Cebu City because I am not ready to face them.”

This was the pronouncement of acting mayor Michael Rama on the move of the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) to exhume the remaining unidentified bodies of the victims of the ill-fated M/V Princess of the Stars.

“I am very upset because they were there all the while, they signified to join the action center and then they withdraw, and all of a sudden they have this action in court, we are not even aware of it and was not given a chance to answer,” Rama said.

Last week, the court granted PAO’s request for exhumation, which happened barely a week after the bodies were buried at the Carreta cemetery.

Rama was responsible for the consolidation of efforts from concerned agencies responding to the sinking of the Princess of the Stars last year.

“I am worried this might send a bad taste to the Interpol, you know diplomatic differences, because PAO’s statements were questioning the integrity of Interpol’s capabilities,” Rama said, adding he cannot fathom what PAO wanted to accomplish.

Rama said they better have resources to carry out whatever they want to do and make sure that there will not be any health risks.

“I am not going to court to stop them. What for? We’ve done our part since day one much more with the Interpol,” Rama said.

In a statement sent to media organizations, Ronald Noble, secretary general of Interpol said despite their efforts, they were disappointed to have read the statements of PAO chief Persida Rueda-Acosta falsely suggesting that DNA identification is unreliable.

“When in fact, reliable scientific evidence and the experience of Interpol, the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) and police worldwide consider it as one of the most effective means of identification,” Noble said.

He said it is very obvious that Acosta is greatly misinformed about how victims can be identified using state of the art DNA technology and procedures.

Noble said the reason why the bodies remain unidentified was that no relative came forward to have their DNAs taken to be compared with the DNAs from the victims. — Ferliza C. Contratista/WAB (THE FREEMAN)