MANILA, Philippines – The corpse of the boy found in Nueva Ecija, and initially believed to be that of 14-year-old Reynaldo de Guzman, may not be laid to rest as scheduled as the Philippine National Police (PNP) wants to examine it.

The PNP announced on Tuesday, September 12, that it wants the corpse – which was supposed to be buried by the De Guzman family on Wednesday, September 13 – to be returned to the Gapan City police, after the PNP discovered that the DNA of the boy was not a match with his supposed parents.

“Since it’s not their biological offspring, number 1, ibabalik natin ‘yung bangkay doon sa huling pinagkunan at tuloy ang pag-iimbistiga (we will return the body where it was retrieved and we will continue the investigation),” PNP spokesman Chief Superintendent Dionardo Carlos said in a news briefing.

“Since with this DNA result, are they going to bury the cadaver na hindi naman sa kanila (that is not theirs)?” Carlos added.

The child’s body was first found floating in a creek in Gapan City on September 5, with nearly 30 stab wounds. The boy’s head was wrapped in packing tape.

A day later, De Guzman’s parents, Eddie and Lina, positively identified the boy as their missing child who was last seen on August 17 with Carl Arnaiz. Arnaiz was gunned down by police on August 18 after supposedly robbing a taxi.

Responding to questions, Carlos said Gapan police would determine when to retrieve the corpse from the family, but added that this should be done prior to burial to avoid the arduous process of exhumation.

Carlos said that aside from the PNP’s finding that the boy was not a biological child of the couple, one of Reynaldo’s brothers said Reynaldo was circumcised. The recovered body was not.

Despite the PNP finding, Reynaldo’s parents insist that the corpse belonged to their missing child because of identifying marks – a scar on the neck and a wart on the left knee. The Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) had backed their claim.

Carlos said that instead of lamenting the PNP’s finding, Reynaldo’s family should remain “hopeful” that the boy was still alive. The police still had no leads on Reynaldo’s whereabouts. – Rappler.com