The Philippine coast guard authority on Monday night said they are checking the identities of 25 survivors who believed to be among the missing passengers of the sunken ferry "M/V Princess of the Stars".

Coast Guard Captain Gilbert Rueros told local news network GMA News that the survivors were found on the Burias Island, Masbate province, to the northeast of the mishap waters of Sibuyan Island.

Rueros said 15 unidentified bodies have also been found on Burias Island.

"Our search area is being extended up to that area (Burias Island). We do not have the details yet," he told GMA News.

Earlier, a town of Masbate said at least 35 bodies have been washed ashore along with 40 survivors along the coast of Burias, but the mayor said the fatalities and the survivors might not all belong to the "M/V Princess of the Star," which sank off at Sunday noon with 862 passengers and crew members.

In a report released Monday afternoon, the Philippine Coast Guard said they were able to confirm 30 more surviving passengers after four survivors swam ashore on Sunday. Two were found on Romblon province while twenty-eight others had been rescued in Quezon province, north of the mishap area off the Romblon coast.

Editor: Yan