3 more bodies from Sulpicio ferry retrieved in Quezon

CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna – Three more bodies from the capsized M/V Princess of the Stars were recovered Monday after being washed ashore in San Francisco, Quezon province.

Quezon provincial police director Senior Superintendent Fidel Posadas identified the three victims as Neil Tolda, Alex dela Cruz and Ricardo Silao, who were identified through their identification cards and ship tickets.

Posadas said the bodies were washed to the shoreline of Barangay Pinagsangahan last Monday, a day after the bodies of Eddie Osabel of Masbate and another unidentified male were retrieved there.

More than 700 bodies are believed still trapped inside the upturned ferry more than two weeks after the tragedy.

Several bodies have been retrieved in open waters or washed ashore far from Sibuyan Island in Romblon where the ferry had sunk.

Authorities ordered a stop in the retrieval operations after a cargo of toxic pesticide was discovered inside the ship.

Officials have decided to refloat the vessel instead, but no time frame has been given as to when the operation will be carried out.

But a lawyer of Sulpicio Lines Inc. (SLI), the owners of the ill-fated vessel, revealed the shipping company is already in negotiations with two salvage firms to refloat the sunken ship.

According to Vic-Vic Florido, SLI, through senior vice president Edgar Go, will have a meeting with Transportation Undersecretary Elena Bautista to discuss the plans of refloating the ship.

Florido said SLI would take into consideration several factors in the refloating, including the position of the sunken vessel, its cargo, and the possibility of retrieving the remains still trapped inside the hull.            

“We are taking care of all of these things. We want to make it as humane as possible. We don’t want to harm the bodies, (but give) respect to the bodies (still) inside,” Florido said.

Florido, however, did not give details on the cost of refloating the Princess of the Stars.

The ferry sank off Sibuyan Island in Romblon with some 850 people aboard during typhoon “Frank” three weeks ago.

The 24,000-ton vessel is resting upside down on a reef off Sibuyan, part of its hull jutting out of the water. Only 57 survivors have been found and it is believed that most of the bodies of the dead are trapped inside the hull. With Sandy Araneta