Minor tagged in Silawan slay

Justice may finally be served 16-year-old student Christine Lee Silawan who was killed and decapitated in Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu last week. This, as the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) yesterday announced the arrest of another suspect, a minor.

In a statement, the NBI said the suspect was linked to the crime by evidence, including mobile phone communications with the victim. The suspect cannot be named under the law for being a minor.

NBI-Central Visayas director Tomas Enrile said the minor is not a certain Jonas Bueno, who was initially tagged as a “person of interest” in the Silawan case.

He said security footage and text messages from Silawan helped track down the suspect.
When found in a vacant lot last Monday, Silawan’s body showed several stab wounds in the neck and body. Her skull was exposed and she was naked from the waist down.

An initial medico-legal report showed she was also missing a number of organs, including the trachea, esophagus and tongue. It remains unclear if she was also raped.

Authorities said the young girl may have been dead for 12 hours when she was found. Police, however, said they had yet to find evidence linking Bueno to the crime.

Enrile also revealed that the suspect was arrested Saturday evening.

Silawan’s mother Lourdes burst into tears in front of her daughter’s casket upon learning of the suspect’s arrest.

“We will not see each other again, Inday,” she said in the local dialect, clutching a photo of her daughter.

“I feel a bit relieved, but I will continue seeking justice until others involved in the crime are arrested,” she said.