Three groups of informants to share in Silawan case’s P1M reward money

Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza turns over the P1 million check, reward money for the Christine Silawan case, to City Police Chief Limuel Obon on June 21. / CDND File Photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Three groups made up of 23 individuals will share in the P1 million reward of the Lapu-Lapu City government for the resolution of the case involving the brutal killing of 16-year-old Christine Lee Silawan.

Police Colonel Lemuel Obon, Lapu-Lapu City Police Office chief, said in an interview that the police would not receive a single centavo of the reward but it would be given to the three groups of informants.

Obon said he only received the P1 million check, a reward for informants helping solve the Silawan case.

He said once these would be encashed, these would be distributed to the informants.

He said since it was given by the city government, he would need also to liquidate the money.

Christine Lee Silawan was found brutally murdered last March 10 in a lot in Barangay Bangkal. She was stabbed several times and her part of her face was skinned to the bone.

It took a month since the killing for police to arrest the suspect, Renato Llenes, who confessed to the murder of Silawan.

Read more: Suspect Llenes recounts how he killed 16-year-old Christine Silawan

The investigation took several turns with the National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas arresting another suspect, a 17-year-old boy, who was the former boyfriend of Silawan.

The boy was released after the arrest of Llenes, who confessed to the killing.

Read more: Silawan killing: Teen suspect’s case junked; murder raps readied against self-confessed killer

Obon, for his part, said that the first group of informants was made up of those who gave the information that the CJ Diaz was a fake name used by Llenes in Facebook to lure Silawan.

Llenes met Silawan in Facebook where he used CJ Diaz as an alias.

The second group was composed of those informants who identified Llenes in the CCTV footage and the third group was made up of those informants who gave information to police on where Llenes was resulting to his arrest.

Obon said that the informants would receive the amount that would be commensurate to the information that they provided.

He said once the P1 million check would be encashed, this would be distributed to the informants.

He said since it was given by the city government, he would also need also to liquidate the money.

Read more: Reward for info on Christine’s killers now at P2 million

Obon said this was only the part of the P2 million reward promised to informants for the quick solution of the Silawan case.

He said he was trying to contact, those persons who promised to raise another P1 million reward money for the Silawan case.

He said once the P1 million from these private individuals would be collected, this too would be released to the informants.

Meanwhile, Police Brigadier General Debold Sinas, Police Regional Office director, ordered Obon a smooth release of the reward money to the informants.

Sinas also said that after the P2 million reward money would be released to the informants, then the P100,000 reward money also offered by the Police Advisory Council would also be released./dbs