THE Department of Justice (DOJ) has placed the family of slain 14-year-old Reynaldo "Kulot" de Guzman to the provisional coverage of its Witness Protection Program (WPP).

"Eduardo Gabriel and Lina de Guzman-Dimaganti visited my office and they voluntarily and freely signified their intention to be placed under our government’s Witness Protection Program," Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said in press conference Friday, September 15.

Aguirre said he had told the parents of Reynaldo that they can trust the government.

"After all, WPP is the only entity empowered under Philippine laws to secure witnesses to a crime and to take care of them," he said.

The DOJ has earlier placed under the WPP the parents of slain 19-year-old Carl Angelo Arnaiz, the teenager last seen with Reynaldo.

The entire Caloocan police force has been relieved following teen deaths in the city, including 17-year-old Kian Loyd Delos Santos. (SunStar Philippines)