By JEFFREY G. DAMICOG
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said he wants to direct the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to conduct a DNA test on the body found in Nueva Ecija to determine if it was really that of Reynaldo “Kulot” de Guzman.
“Siguro I will ask the NBI to conduct a second DNA examination para malaman lang natin,” Aguirre said.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) has already released its DNA testing on the body and concluded that it is not Kulot.
However, Kulot’s parents, Eduardo Gabriel and Lina Sta. Ana, has insisted that the body they buried yesterday was their son.
Meanwhile, Aguirre said he is giving Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) Chief Persida Acosta a free hand to decide on the matter. PAO serves as the legal counsel for the couple.
Earlier, Acosta described as illegal the DNA testing conducted by the PNP on Kulot.
The body was recovered from a creek in Kinabayuhan in Gapan City, Nueva Ecija, last September 5.
Kulot was last seen alive with 19-year-old University of the Philippines (UP) student Carl Angelo Arnaiz in their neighborhood in Cainta, Rizal, last August 18.
On the same day, Arnaiz was killed in a shootout with Caloocan City policemen who claimed that he resisted arrest and fried shots at them after robbing the taxi driver.