JUSTICE Undersecretary Adrian Sugay on Monday night confirmed a report from the National Bureau of Investigation that the body found in Tarlac last October 31 belongs to retired Court of Appeals associate justice Normandie Pizarro who was reported missing by his relatives.
“Yes, based on DNA test results,” Sugay said when he was asked to confirm if the missing magistrate’s death was already confirmed.
According to Sugay, Pizarro was last seen inside a casino in Clark, Pampanga last October 23.
His car, an early model Honda Accord, was later on discovered somewhere in San Simon, Pampanga.
The car had bloodstains inside when checked by police investigators.
He last spoke with one of his sons on October 23 at around 11:30 to 12 noon, Sugay continued.
Quoting NBI Deputy Director Ferdinand Lavin, the Philippine Star reported on Monday that “Pizarro’s fingers were cut off from his arms, to remove possibility that the body could be identified through fingerprints.”
The NBI was able to confirm Pizarro’s body through DNA from blood samples inside the car, and his bones, Lavin continued.
The NBI stepped into the case after the family and relatives of Pizarro sought its help in tracking the ex-CA justice.
Pizarro wrote the decision freeing former Palawan governor Joel Reyes who was accused as the brain behind the murder of journalists Gerry Ortega.
He also acquitted alleged pork barrel mastermind Janet Lim Napoles from a serious illegal detention case in May 2017.#
