CITY Councilor James Judith is pushing for the provision of a final resting place, through a ceremonial burial, for the 300 still-unidentified victims of Typhoon Sendong.
This, as the 13th anniversary of the disaster that devastated the region in December 2011 is approaching.
Judith said families, whose loved ones are among the unidentified bodies buried in a mass grave at the City Memorial Park, were looking for closure.
The city councilor also urged the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to give an update on the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) extraction efforts, which were conducted in 2012.
“We will invite the NBI or other experts to continue identifying the human remains,” Councilor Roger Abaday said in response to the request.
In 2012, the NBI extracted DNA samples from the recovered bodies in the hopes of identifying them and being given proper burial by their respective family.
However, the extraction efforts stopped due to lack of budget.
Abaday said the DNA extraction should not have been stopped due to lack of funds as there are still ways to identify the victims.
"From what I know, human remains will stay intact for a period of 20 years. It does not decompose easily, it can still be identified by experts," Abaday said, citing that one way to identify the remains is through their skull and denture formations.
Judith, for his part, said there is no need for the bodies to be exhumed and transferred to another place as he only wants a ceremonial burial to be held for the victims and to be attended by their families and relatives. (Jo Ann Sablad/SunStar Philippines)