BACOLOD CITY — The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in Bacolod City said the primary suspect in the abduction and death of a 15-year-old high school student admitted to investigators that he molested the victim when she was still 12 years old.

Manuel Fayre, NBI Bacolod chief, said on Friday that Rene John Nasis admitted molesting his stepdaughter Pearl Joy Galve.

Galve's decomposing body was found inside a sugarcane field in La Carlota City, Negros Occidental, on July 29.

Fayre said Nasis denied having any knowledge whatsoever with regard to the death of his stepdaughter.

However, Nasis, an informant of the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), went to the NBI office in Bacolod City on Friday after he was issued with a subpoena.

He was accompanied by CIDG personnel.

Galve, a student of Sum-ag National High School in Bacolod City, was found dead on August 14 after she was reported missing on July 29.

The La Carlota City police reported that the minor had been beaten and strangled, based on the autopsy results.

Fayre said he is not inclined to believe that Nasis, who is not cooperating in their investigations, is innocent of the death of Galve, noting his behavior and inconsistencies in his issued statements.

Asked why he is not cooperating with them, despite several conditions presented to him, including an offer of being a state witness just to solve the murder incident, Fayre said Nasis is willing to take a risk.

"We are not dealing with an ordinary criminal, but a hardened criminal," the NBI Bacolod chief said.

He added that Nasis was previously convicted and served his prison terms at the Bureau of Corrections.

With no case yet filed against him, Nasis is free to go but the CIDG wouldn't want to let him go, Fayre said.

A week after the discovery of Galve's body, Nasis surfaced at the CIDG Bacolod Field Office to debunk insinuations that he was involved in the death of his stepdaughter.

With the admission of Nasis of molesting her stepdaughter when she was 12 years old, Fayre said charges of violation of Republic Act 9262, or the Anti-Violence Against Women and Children, will be filed against him.