Body found in Malabon identified

MANILA, Philippines - Malabon City police identified the corpse of a teenage boy a month after it was found floating in the Tullahan river in Barangay Catmon.

Chief Inspector Realito Esperida, who heads the Malabon police’s Station Investigation and Detective Management unit, said the victim was identified as Arnel Padrequila, 17, a resident of Karuhatan, Valenzuela City.

Esperida said Arnel is an electronic engineering student at the Valenzuela Polytechnic University who has been missing since Jan. 25.

The victim’s uncle, Bobit Padrequila, appeared at the Malabon station to inquire about the body.

He told police that his nephew, after receiving his P200 allowance, asked permission to attend graduation practice at school but failed to come home.

Bobit identified the body as that of his nephew. The body was found wearing a white polo, a Tau Gamma Phi t-shirt, black slacks and black shoes.

The two sets of keys found in the pocket of the victim matched the doorknob of the Padrequila residence.

Police Officer 2 Rommel Habig told The STAR that the body, which bore severe head injuries, was already bloated when it was found by a resident last Jan. 27. – Perseus Echeminada, Pete Laude