Families claiming bodies of victims burned to death in Tuburan have to wait for DNA results

Tuburan town located in the northwest of Cebu island.

CEBU CITY, Philippines—The families claiming the charred bodies found in Tuburan town last Tuesday, May 28, 2019, will have to wait for the DNA results before they can bring the bodies home.

This was the pronouncement of Lieutenant Colonel Carlos Lacquesta, Jr., the deputy chief for administration of the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO), as the families of the two victims who were burned to death sought to claim their bodies on Wednesday, May 29, 2019.

Lacquesta said the families who came to claim the bodies positively identified the victims as Nicko Baricar of Barangay Mambaling and John Paul Galon of Barangay Kalunasan in Cebu City.

Read more: Tuburan police: Help us to identify 2 burnt bodies found in Brgy Putat

Both were friends from Cebu City and were lost for at least a week before their charred bodies were found in Tuburan, which is approximately 88 kilometers north of Cebu City.

Despite positively identifying the victims through Baricar’s ring and Galon’s clothes, the families of the victims still cannot bring home the bodies until the DNA test results are out.

Lacquesta said that since the charred bodies have been disfigured, the only positive identification can be established with the DNA testing.

Read more: Families, cops wait for DNA test results to identify bodies found in Tuburan

“Considering that the bodies were burned already, it is advisable to the families to give a DNA sample and wait for the results to establish proper identification,” said Lacquesta.

The results of the DNA test may take as long as four weeks since this will be done in the national crime laboratory in Camp Krame in Manila.

Only with the results can the bodies be returned to the families to avoid any possible mistakes in the identification.

In an earlier statement, CPPO already said that they will release the results of the autopsy conducted on Tuesday, May 28, only after the positive identification of the bodies.

The police are currently looking into personal grudge as one of the main motives for the killing of Baricar and Galon. 

The mother of Baricar, Carmelita Tierny, already gave her swab sample for the DNA test. But she told police that she does not believe that the body belonged to her son.

She revealed that Baricar was jailed for 13 years for frustrated murder but was acquitted and released last year.

She also said that Baricar and Galon were allegedly part of the fraternity, Tau Gamma Phi, and they were in contact with Isidro “Botex” Nudalo Jr., an alleged drug pusher and brother of alleged drug lord, Joel “Tongol” Nodalo.

Tierny alleged that Isidro was the last person her son saw before he disappeared with Galon. /bmjo