Body of ‘Princess’ passenger finally gets home

TUGUEGARAO CITY, Philippines – After five months, one of the victims of the ill fated vessel MV Princess of the Stars was finally buried in his final resting place here.

Bonnie Toreda who was buried by his family on Oct. 31, hails from Allacapan town. He was among the reported 600 others that went missing after the ship sunk in the waters off Romblon last June 21 during the height of typhoon Frank.

His body was found in Polangi Island .

In a radio interview, the victim’s mother Letty Toreda said that her son’s body was positively identified through a DNA test conducted by National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

His father however believed that as a Marine student with sea survival training, Toreda was able to jump off the ship before it capsized but he wasn’t able to survive the deep and rough waters.

According to Toreda’s mother, the victim was set to go on training in Cebu for his Marine Engineering course which he enrolled at the Cagayan Colleges of Tuguegarao.

“Bonnie is now with us but we know he will not be in peace as long we don't get justice from his death, “she said.

With only about 155 bodies recovered to date, the victim’s families fear that salvage firm Harbor Star will not be able to finish its job of retrieving all the bodies before Christmas.

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