MANILA - Police confirmed Tuesday a severed head left near the Jolo Cathedral in Jolo, Sulu last week belongs to Canadian Robert Hall.

According to the PNP Crime Laboratory, the DNA samples of the recovered head on June 14 matched the DNA profile of Hall submitted by the forensics laboratory of Canada.

PNP confirms decapitated head that of Robert Hall. DNA samples match DNA profile supplied by forensics lab of Canada pic.twitter.com/PrOscydJfZ

— Maan Macapagal (@maan_macapagal) June 21, 2016

The Philippines earlier confirmed the execution of Hall who was held hostage by the Abu Sayyaf Islamist militant group on a remote southern island since he was captured with three other people in September 2015.

"We strongly condemn the brutal and senseless murder of Mr. Robert Hall, a Canadian national, after being held captive by the Abu Sayyaf group in Sulu for the past nine months," President Benigno Aquino III said in a statement issued by his communications secretary.

PH confirms execution of Canadian hostage by Abu Sayyaf

Hall was taken captive with three other people by Abu Sayyaf militants in September 2015 from an upscale resort on Samal island, hundreds of miles east of Jolo.

The bandits initially demanded P1 billion each for the detainees, but it lowered the ransom to P300 million each early this year. Both the Philippine and Canadian government, however, reiterated a policy against paying ransom in these cases.

Intelligence reports said Hall was executed some 15 minutes after the 3 p.m. ransom deadline on Monday in the mountains outside the island's Patikul town.

AFP Western Command spokesperson Major Filemon Tan Jr. said a severed head found Monday near the Jolo Cathedral in Jolo, Sulu "likely" belongs to Hall. With a report by Reuters