Lourdes Silawan, the mother of 16-year-old Christine Lee Silawan, sobs uncontrollaby as she gazes at the photo of her slain daughter placed on top of her coffin, whose wake is now being held at the house of her maternal grandparents in Barangay Soong, Lapu-Lapu City starting on March 13, 2019, a day after her body was found in a grassy area in Lapu-Lapu City. |CDND Photo/Tonee Despojo
LAPU-LAPU CITY, Cebu — “We want them alive.”
The police in this city clarified that there is no shoot-to-kill order against the murderers of Christine Lee Silawan, the 16-year-old church worker who was killed with her face skinned and whose half-naked body was dumped in a vacant lot in Barangay Bangkal in Lapu-lapu City on March 11.
Police Senior Superintendent Limuel Obon, director of the Lapu-lapu City Police Office (LLCPO), said that they want to catch alive the suspects in Silawan’s gruesome killing, admitting there are now looking at a main suspect and two cohorts as likely culprits in the crime.
“We want him to be arrested alive. Ang akong instruction sa atong mga tawo, if he will fire shots on you, cover. And if you have to return dito lang sa extremities,” Obon told reporters.
“We are hoping na we can catch him alive and that he will not fight with us. We will let him surrender so that he can face the public and the query of the people — how did it happen and why did he do it? And we will do our part revealing to the people nganong siya ang ginatudlo,” said Obon.
Although Obon refused to reveal the identity of the main suspect in order not to compromise the work of the tracking team on the ground, the police chief confirmed that the man is someone whom Silawan had exchanged messages with. Police have yet to ascertained if the two were in a romantic relationship.
“All I can say is that he has a pending case, murder. Akong info is that he knows how the police work; that’s why it helps him elude us,” said Obon.
At least three suspects
Obon added that if only they can arrest the main suspect, they hoped that the other two suspects will fall next.
“Murag nagco-corroborate sa giingon sa witness. We are looking for three people and we are hopeful that with the arrest of the primary suspect, the other two will be revealed,” Obon said.
Obon said that based on their intelligence report, the suspect is still in Cebu but no longer in Lapu-Lapu City.
Meanwhile, Lousiline, Silawan’s elder sister, also said that she would want the perpetrators to suffer in jail rather than have them killed.
“Personally, at first ganahan ko [that he be killed through death penalty] but later on, maybe makabawos kay mamatay pod sila pero what will we get from it? They should suffer in jail para matagamtaman nila ang suffering nga ilang gibuhat,” Lousiline told CDN Digital.
“Ang extent sa crime is sobra ka brutal. Wala ni sila nahadlok og kamatayon so why should we give it to them?” Louisiline, a 21-year-old teacher, added.
Lousiline also said that they appreciated the progress that the police has made in the investigation on her sister’s death.
She said that the development of having identified a primary suspect has given them a ray of light amid the dark moment that they have experienced since Christine Lee was found dead on Monday morning, March 11./elb