DAVAO CITY – The Philippine Coast Guard District in Southeastern Mindanao has shifted from search and rescue to search and retrieval operations for MBCA Amejara, two weeks after the recreational vessel went missing near the Davao Gulf.

PCGDSEM commander Commodore Philipps Soria said that the decision underwent a thorough discussion among different agencies involved in the operations.

Unlike search and retrieval, Soria said search and rescue was very thorough and very risky. “During search and recovery, the search pattern is not very hasty and thorough anymore,” Soria said. “There will be changes in the operational tempo.”

Soria said that there might be changes in the number of air and floating assets used in search and retrieval operations.

During the search and rescue operations, the multi-agency effort deployed five floating assets and two air assets.

With the shift, Soria said they might reduce it to two floating assets considering the resources of the government.

“The possibility of finding survivors is already close to none. That is why we are transitioning to search and retrieval operations,” Soria said.

Of the 16 people on board, only a crew member, Christopher Bulig, was rescued in the sea of Sarangani Island on Jan. 20.

Six bodies were recovered about 75 nautical miles (138 kilometers) southwest of Sarangani Island four days later. Only four of the six bodies have been identified.

Office of Civil Defense-Davao region chief Ednar Dayanghirang identified the bodies as those of Porferio Lanorias Jr., Ranil Florino, John Julius Alcazar, and Hector Emberga.

The two unidentified bodies will be temporarily buried while awaiting results of the deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA testing.

Soria said that the Philippine government has secured a clearance from the Indonesian government to continue retrieval operations in foreign waters.

He said the timeline for the search and retrieval operations has yet to be determined.

But he added that the search and retrieval operations will be terminated only if there will be no breakthroughs for several days.

“When you say termination, we will no longer have any effort on the SAR area. But we will just announce among maritime users and other agencies to be on the look for possible recovery debris or wreckage and turnover to proper authorities.”