Another suspect nabbed in teen’s slay in Lapu-Lapu City

TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol — Police on Tuesday arrested yet another suspect in the brutal killing of 16-year-old Christine Lee Silawan last month.

Brigadier-General Debold Sinas, director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas, said the 42-year-old suspect admitted that obsession with Silawan drove him to kill the girl.

“The suspect was obsessed with the girl. He knew the girl but the girl only knew about the suspect through exchanges on text and Messenger. He’s been duping young girls,” he said in a press conference on Wednesday.

Based on the investigation, the suspect was both a drug user and a pusher and has been on the drugs watchlist of the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office.

The man has a live-in partner in Lapu-Lapu City and has five children.

Seized from the suspect was a .45-caliber gun.

“We will be first filing charges of illegal gun possession against the suspect. A separate case in relation to the Silawan case will follow,” said Sinas.

The man, who was considered a “primary suspect” in Silawan’s slaying, was arrested by operatives of the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office (LCPO) on Tuesday morning.

Sinas said the suspect has executed an extrajudicial confession to make formal his testimonies. However, he refused to divulge more details about the suspect while the investigation continued.

He also declined to identify the man.

“We will not give further details because we’ll be conferring first with the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) on the progress of the case since they are the lead agency here,” said Sinas.

In a separate interview, NBI-7 Director Tomas Enrile said the case that the agency filed against Silawan’s former boyfriend would go on despite the arrest of another suspect.

“The arrest of another suspect will not affect our case. We have presented our evidence and we will leave it up to the court,” said Enrile.

Enrile said they nonetheless welcomed the arrest of another suspect.

“We have been sharing notes with the police so this is a positive development,” Enrile said.

Silawan’s half-naked body was found in a vacant lot in Barangay Bankal, Lapu-Lapu City on March 11.

Five days later, the NBI arrested Silawan’s ex-boyfriend who reportedly had a hand in the crime.

The suspect denied the allegation.

The NBI, however, filed murder charges against the teenage suspect, who is under the custody of a home-care facility of Lapu-Lapu City’s social welfare and development office.

The PNP Crime Laboratory-Central Visayas stood by its findings that there were no indications that Silawan was raped, contrary to the autopsy conducted by the Public Attorney’s Office./lzb