Man tagged on Facebook as suspect in Cebu teen slay denies involvement
MANILA, Philippines — A man who was tagged as one of the suspects of the brutal killing of a teenager in Lapu-Lapu City denied his involvement in the crime and said his name and photos were wrongly used by a Facebook page accusing him as such.
Jerome Nelson Funcion sought help from the Anti-Cybercrime group of the Philippine National Police (PNP) on Sunday to investigate the matter and clear his name.
In an interview with dzBB, Funcion said that he saw a post from a Facebook blog page named “Kamaong Apoy Blog,” accusing him of being one of the suspects of the gruesome killing of Grade 9 student Christine Silawan in Lapu-Lapu City.
READ: Suspect in gruesome Cebu killing arrested
“Kahapon po ng 1:30 pm, nagulat lang po ako kasi madami na po siyang shares [at] saka comment, [at] saka dinadamay po ako sa pagkamatay nung babae dun sa Cebu. Eh, taga-Antipolo naman po talaga ako. Hindi po ako umaalis dun,” Funcion said.
“Nakita ko lang po sa Facebook, sa page nila yung pangalan ko, [at] saka picture ko na dinadamay na nga po ako sa kasong yan,” he added.
Funcion took a screenshot of the post, which has already been taken down as of writing. The post has claimed that Funcion allegedly flew from Cebu to Antipolo City in Rizal after committing the crime.
However, Funcion said that he lives in Antipolo City and last left his hometown on February 15 when he went to Olongapo City.
“Isa pang suspect o kasabwat sa pag-patay sa 16 years old na dalagitang ni-rape at binalatan ang balat sa mukha, pinaghahanap ngayon!” the post read.
“Ayon sa report, ilang araw nang mangyari ay lumipad pa-Maynila ang suspect na si Jerome [N]elson Funcion. Maraming nakakapagsasabi na sa Antipolo, Rizal ito pumunta. Kung sino mang nakakaalam ay ipagbigay alam sa pulisya,’ it added.
A photo of Funcion also accompanied the post.
Funcion said he has confronted the blog page through a messaging application.
In a post, Funcion uploaded screenshots of their conversation which showed that the blog page has apologized for their post.
The blog page said that it is tracking down the original post so they can report it. It also said that it has suspended one of the page admins for his/her “irresponsible” post. /je
