In Tacloban, residents still searching for missing loved ones may finally find closure six months after Yolanda devastated the city.
A team from the National Bureau of Investigation in Manila will conduct antemortem identifications of 2,255 bodies that remain unidentified.
Acting city administrator Jennylyn Manibay said the Tacloban government asked the NBI for help in identifying the victims. “This is the least the city government can do to provide comfort and closure to the relatives who had lost their loved ones,” Manibay said.
Of the bodies that had yet to be unidentified, 2,243 were buried in a mass grave at Holy Cross Cemetery in Barangay Diit.
Relatives of the missing can go to the Balyuan Convention Center beginning May 19 to register. The taking of blood samples and dental swabs will be done alphabetically. The samples extraction will end on July 7.
Qualified to give samples are parents and children of victims.
The samples will be sent to the NBI office in Manila. Their DNA will be matched with the DNA taken from the bones and tissues of unidentified victims.
Dr. Charina Labrador, NBI Disaster Victims Identification chief, said she could not say how long it would take to complete the procedure.
She said the matching would be done free of charge. Under ordinary circumstances, DNA matching costs P20,000.
Sunday 12 May 2014
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/601215/govt-has-yolanda-recovery-report-after-all
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