A Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) team took DNA [deoxyribonucleic acid] specimen from members of the family of persons who went missing at Typhoon Tino’s onslaught on November 4, 2025 in upland Cebu City. 

GMA Regional TV Balitang Bisdak has witnessed the process of collecting DNA samples in Barangay Lusaran, an upland barangay of Cebu City.

Personnel from the Philippine National Police, the Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the Local Government Unit of Cebu City comprise the DVI team.

The objective of the team is to help identify persons swept away by raging floodwater the moment their bodies would be retrieved.

It was learned that at least six individuals are declared missing, including 51-year-old Fernando Lapuz.

To help identify the body of Lapuz, the team took DNA specimen from his niece identified as Wineber Ermac.

She said she last saw her uncle on the roof of his house at the surge of the flood, but lost sight of him as they struggled to swim to safety.

Ermac hopes that her uncle’s body would be retrieved and be accorded a proper burial.

Further, it was learned that the six missing individuals are from Barangays Binaliw, Paril, and Bacayan aside from Lusaran.

Three are from Bacayan, and one each from Binaliw, Paril, and Lusaran.

According to Cebu City Councilor Dave Tumulak, chairperson of the Committee on Disaster Response, the search and recovery efforts of the LGU is ongoing.

Furthermore, Tumulak said that a body part was found in Compostela town that he wants the DVI team to check for proper identification.