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On June 22, 2008, a ferry owned by Sulpicio Lines - MV Princess of the Stars capsized in the coast of Romblon, near Sibuyan Island as Typhoon Frank (Fengshen) enters the Visayas region.

The ferry carried 862 passengers and currently there are more than 50 survivors rescued and hundreds are missing. The Philippine Navy assigned their divers to search for possible survivors but sadly there’s no sign of life in the sunken ferry.

But on June 27, 2008, the retrieval operation on the ferry are totally stopped because of a pesticides discovered inside the ferry which is owned by Del Monte. All the divers of Philippine Navy involved in the operation undergo a series of test to determine if their body are contaminated with the chemical pesticides.

The retrieval operation of the dead bodies continues with the help of Philippine Coastguard, Philippine Navy and US Navy. An estimated of 115 bodies were recovered along the shorelines of Burias Island, Masbate and the ill-fated vessel.

According to Sulpicio Lines website :

All victims listed in the Passenger Manifest will be paid the amount of Two Hundred Thousand Pesos (Php 200,000) regardless of whether the bodies have been recovered or are still missing, and regardless of whether the bodies have been identified or not up to this time. We therefore invite the next of kin or legal heirs of every passenger-victim (casualties) listed in the Passenger Manifest to fill up a Claim Form which can be obtained from our Manila office or Cebu office and submit this together with the following supporting documents (original copy):

» Birth Certificate and Marriage Contract (victims and claimants)
» Valid cedula and government ID of the claimants
» Voter’s ID (victims and claimants - if available)
» Affidavit of relationship of claimants to the victim
» Death Certificate (if available)