Anger, drugs may have driven ex-lover to kill

CEBU, Philippines — Following the arrest of a 17-year-old boy in the murder of his ex-girlfriend, 16-year-old Christine Lee Silawan, one can’t help but ask: Is a minor capable of killing someone as gruesome as skinning and plucking out some internal organs of the victim?

For social psychologist Dr. Anna Kathrina Oaminal-Watin, such crime is possible when fueled by intense emotions or feelings, especially if the culprit is taking illegal drugs.

"Anger, deeply-rooted sadness, the immense sense of invisibility of a person especially of a younger one paired with drugs can cause so much violence," Watin said.

Watin added that peer pressure may have also provoked the minor suspect to kill his former sweetheart.

"There might also have been a dare, given by some to this young person, also persons of his similar age,” she said.

She did not discount the possibility that the suspect was under the influence of illegal drugs when he committed the crime. Silawan was found dead on a vacant lot in Sitio Mahayahay, Barangay Bankal, Lapu-Lapu City on March 11.

She was last seen with the suspect on Sunday, March 10, based on the closed-circuit television (CCTV) footages obtained by the National Bureau of Investigation in Central Visayas. The circumstantial pieces of evidence gathered by the operatives of NBI-7 resulted in the arrest of the suspect last Saturday.

According to the NBI, the suspect may have been jealous of the victim because the latter was seen together with an altar boy of Sacred Heart Parish, where she also served as tithe collector. A criminal complaint for murder was already filed before the Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor’s Office against the minor suspect.

Lowering Criminal Age

Crime incidents like that of the murder of Silawan are among the arguments used by the proponents of the measure that seeks to lower the age of criminal liability.

Watin said she is in favor of lowering the age of responsibility for children in conflict with the law. She said that while it is the duty of adults to protect children, it is also their responsibility to reform minor offenders.

“I also make a stand that lowering the age of responsibility for CICL from 15 years to 12 years old is not retrogression from international convention; rather, it is an ardent response of the government to the changing landscape of juvenile delinquency in the Philippines,” Watin said.

She, however, said that the government should strictly implement all the provisions of the law, specially the rehabilitation of minor offenders. — FPL (FREEMAN)