Samar boat explosion: Human remains, debris found

MANILA, Philippines — The remains of a woman and debris of a boat were recovered in the waters of Tarangnan, Samar on Tuesday, according to the military.

Capt. Ryan Layug, public affairs office chief of the Joint Task Force Storm, said the human remains and debris were found floating by a fisherman around 1.5 kilometers from the shoreline of Barangay Poblacion.

The Tarangnan Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Office said the torso of a woman was recovered.

The human remains were buried by the municipal government.

Philippine Coast Guard and police personnel have been conducting search and retrieval operations after a boat exploded and sank in the waters off Catbalogan on Monday.

Layug said the boat was a total wreck and its debris was scattered by strong waves.

However, the Armed Forces of the Philippines said there is still no evidence that Benito Tiamzon and his wife Wilma, chairman and secretary general, respectively, of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) were among the fatalities in the boat explosion.

The boat exploded for still unknown reasons as soldiers engaged in a firefight with its passengers.

Task force commander Maj. Gen. Edgardo de Leon said the retrieval of the human remains and wreckage of the boat is a positive development.

“We have coordinated with the local police for assistance in determining the identity of the recovered body part through appropriate laboratory procedures,” De Leon said. ”We also sent drones to scour for more debris and remains, but the unfavorable weather condition over the area hindered the air surveillance mission.”

The Tiamzon couple and eight other armed persons were allegedly the passengers of the boat.

The couple, who have several standing warrants for various crimes, reportedly came from Batangas City to conduct lectures about CPP founding chairman Jose Ma. Sison’s writings when the incident occurred.