Whatever happened to justice for Silawan?

In a surprising twist of fate, while the public was satisfied with the arrest of the ex-boyfriend of 16-year-old Christine Lee Silawan, her alleged killer was freed the same day she was laid to rest. The Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor’s office ordered the release of the 17-year-old suspect because the arrest made by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) was invalid since it was done without an arrest warrant. Hmmm…whatever happened to the arrest because the boy was suspected of doing a crime?

No doubt, the Silawan family was saddened by the release of the suspect, although they would have preferred him detained by following proper procedure to ensure that the case would not be dismissed on a technicality. The 17-year-old ex-boyfriend’s lawyer argued that the arrest was invalid since the suspect was taken into custody without a warrant. Call it the rule of law being exercised by the lawyer. This should be a lesson to the NBI to get an arrest warrant before they arrest any suspect. I can only second-guess that the police and the NBI were on top of this case, not only because the Cebuanos in social media, including the president, are very interested in this case. And more importantly because they were after the bounty that Lapu-Lapu City and other people have dangled for the arrest of the suspect.

On March 10th, Christine Silawan was found dead in Barangay Bangkal, Lapu-Lapu City, with half her face gone, her organs in the neck area removed, and her body bearing 30 stab wounds. Based on footage from the closed-circuit television cameras, the 17-year-old suspect was with the girl before she was killed on the night before March 10, near the place where her remains were found. The NBI used that footage to arrest the 17-year-old boy.

The Silawan Family believe that the authorities got the right suspect, which is why Christine’s parents set the interment last Saturday in keeping with their promise to bury her after her killer had been placed behind bars. Sadly, the suspect’s release also came on the day she was buried. Those who attended the funeral mass for Silawan were Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Paz Radaza, Lapu-Lapu City Vice Mayor Marcial Ycong, and members of Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption led by Dante Jimenez. Accordingly, Jimenez said that Silawan’s murder would make his group push for government officials to restore the death penalty for heinous crimes.

Truth to tell, if we brought back the death penalty for heinous crimes, it actually gives the perpetrator of the crime an easy way out of life. In my book, after seeing the inside of the Bagong Buhay Rehabilitation Center (BBRC) I decided that life imprisonment is a better punishment for criminals. Actually, what we need is a new prison where prisoners with life sentences won’t be living together with hardened criminals. Anyway, at this point, we would like to know how the police or the NBI will handle this case after releasing the suspect. Abangan!

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Last Thursday, March 21, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte officially ended the dialogues between the government and the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). The president made the announcement during his speech at the Philippine Army’s 122nd Founding Anniversary rites when he announced: “I am officially announcing the permanent termination of our talks between the Government Panel and the Communist Party of the Philippines. I’d like to announce that I am no longer entertaining any interventions or maybe persuasions in this democratic state of the Republic of the Philippines.” Let me just say that I fully support this move by the president.

Well, after several serious attempts at making peace with his former friends, finally Pres. Duterte has realized that the commies really do not want peace in this country, simply because their main objective is to establish a communist government in the Philippines. The president also said that the CPP can talk to the next president, indicating that there would be no more discussions under his administration. The president also announced that during his remaining years as the head of state, he would finally put an end to the war against the Abu Sayyaf and illegal drugs. Honestly, the president can put a finish to the Abu Sayyaf, but as far as illegal drugs are concerned, I doubt if he can put an end to this worldwide evil!