JUSTICE Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II on Tuesday said he has ordered the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to conduct DNA testing on the supposed body of 14-year-old Reynaldo De Guzman.

This development came after the Philippine National Police (PNP) said Monday that the cadaver found in a creek in Gapan, Nueva Ecija on September 5 was not De Guzman, as revealed in the results of the DNA test. 

The PNP's report said the body's DNA did not match De Guzman's parents' Eddie and Lina Gabriel.

PNP Deputy Director General Fernando Mendez said the parents could have misidentified the victim as their son as the body was already bloated and his features have already changed. 

But PAO chief Persida Rueda-Acosta disputed the report and said Reynaldo's parents themselves identified that it was their son's body.

Reynaldo had been missing since August 18. 

He was last seen with Carl Angelo Arnaiz who was found dead following an alleged gunfight with the Caloocan City police officers who tried to arrest him for allegedly attempting to rob taxi driver Tomas Bagcal. (SunStar Philippines)