President Duterte has ordered the re-arrest of the 17-year-old suspect behind the brutal killing of Christine Silawan who was found mutilated and her face skinned off in Cebu early this month.
In a speech late Tuesday, Duterte said he called the prosecutor who ordered the release of the suspect, reportedly the victim’s former boyfriend.
“’Yung nakapatay sa bata, ni-release and they act upon orders of the prosecutor. Tinawagan ko siya pagka-umaga,” Duterte said. “Sabi ko i-recall mo ‘yang ano mo order ninyo of dismissal,” he added.
The young suspect was ordered release last week by the Lapu-Lapu City Prosecutor’s Office which ruled that his arrest by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) was done without a warrant.
According to Duterte, fiscals should know the definition of a hot pursuit operation.
“Kasi fiscal ako, fiscal ka. Marami man tayong abugado dito. Iyong interpretation ng hot pursuit,” he said. “Right after the commission of the crime, there is a hot pursuit. Continuous ‘yan hanggang mahuli mo. Then you file a case.”
“Hindi ako papayag na ganunin mo lang ang tao especially oppression. Patayin mo ang bata? Balatan mo tapos magsibat ka lang? Mahuli ka after six days tapos ma-release ka kasi hindi hot pursuit?” Duterte said.
“For as long as there is somebody who conducted investigation and made a follow-up everyday, that is still hot pursuit to me. Imposible ‘yang sabihin mo na hot pursuit 24 hours lang ngayon,” he added.
Silawan, a 16-year-old Grade 9 student was found dead in Lapu-Lapu City on March 11 after she had gone missing.
The teenage suspect was nabbed by the NBI at his house in Barangay Maribago, Lapu-Lapu City a week after Silawan was killed.
Security camera footage showed that the suspect was with Silawan before she was allegedly killed in the evening of March 10. (Argyll Geducos)
