MANILA, Philippines (UPDATE) - The government on Saturday shifted from search and rescue to search and retrieval of passengers of the ill-fated MV Catalyn B who are still missing.

Philippine Coast Guard chief Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo said operations to retrieve 12 bodies or more believed to be trapped inside the sunken vessel have been ongoing even during the holidays.

On Saturday, two more bodies, a man and a woman, were retrieved by the Coast Guard.

Coast Guard officials declined to identify the bodies, but said the female victim is in her 20s, while the male victim is in his 30s.

Commodere Luis Tuazon, PCG-NCR district commander, said their divers are having a hard time retrieving bodies from the wreck due to the depth of the vessel.

Only Matthew Caldwell, an American who is a member of the Coast Guard auxillary, was able to dive to the wreck because he is the only one who had proper equipment.

Maritime Industry Authority (Marina) administrator Elena Bautista said the government has sought the help of technical divers for the retrieval operations.

The ferry sank 228 feet into the waters off Limbones Island in Cavite on Christmas eve.

So far, only 3 are confirmed dead in the tragedy. The death toll is expected to increase to 15 or more once retrieval operations are completed.

Forty-six, meanwhile, have been rescued alive. With reports from Cecille Lardizabal and Ryan Chua, ABS-CBN News