THE gruesome death of Christine Lee Silawan, the 16-year-old girl who was skinned and stabbed 30 times, outraged social media users, some of whom were moved to help solve the crime.
Don Davis, an American retiree based in Leyte, was so furious that he offered a P500,000 bounty for the arrest and conviction of all those involved.
In an email sent to SunStar Cebu, Davis said the way Silawan was murdered and how her body was desecrated was “shocking, barbaric.”
“To me, that crime was so heinous that I would like to help find every single person responsible for the murder. I would like to put up a reward for information leading to the arrest AND conviction of every single person involved in Ms. Silawan’s grizzly murder,” he said.
“As a permanent resident of this country for nine years, I have found out how very important speed is in finding these killers. The longer this drags on, the lower the possibility of finding those guilty,” Davis continued.
He said he had gotten in touch with Lapu-Lapu City Police Office Chief Limuel Obon and informed him of his reward offer. Obon has yet to reply.
Davis said he is willing to deposit the money in the bank and entrust the account with the authorities in case he is no longer around when the conviction comes.
“I may die before that happens, but the offer will stay and the money will be there,” he said.
While most of the people online shared the Silawan family’s grief, others conveyed their disgust at netizens who shared photos of Silawan’s half-naked and bloodied body on social media.
Nagiel Bañacia, the former City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office head, asked netizens to be sensitive when posting or sharing the photos online as it can hurt the family, relatives and friends more.
“To exaggerate-it is ‘double rape’ or ‘double dead case,’” Bañacia wrote. “Kaluoy gyud... Gi rape na, gi panitan na, gipistahan pa sa social media (It’s so sad... aside from being raped and skinned, social media is feasting on her photos),” he said.
Charlito Condejar shared the same sentiments and wonders what exactly one gets for posting such gruesome photographs.
“Our netizens should be more circumspect in posting photographs like that. They should have a little bit of pity,” Condejar said.
Others criticized the “backward mentality” of some people, asking the netizens to stop victim-blaming and instead focus on the perpetrators of the crime.
“People should stop saying, ‘don’t go out at night’ or ‘don’t wear skimpy outfits,’” Kweni Barruel wrote in a post that quickly went viral. “Are y’all seriously playing the blame game over women? What we need is a community where women feel safe to walk in every corner!”
The story also prompted some netizens who engaged in SunStar Cebu’s online posts to ask to restore the death penalty.
“Ibalik unta ang death penalty para mahipos tanang badlongon sa kalibutan (Bring back the death penalty to eliminate the criminals),” La Niña wrote.