The Department of Justice on Wednesday said it is ready to provide protection for possible witnesses in the gruesome killing of 16-year-old Christine Silawan in Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra assured that the witnesses can be placed under the DOJ’s Witness Protection Program.
“Any potential witness who will surface to shed light in the murder of Christine can be covered by our WPP, if necessary,” he said, in a text message.
A P2-million reward was earlier offered by government offices as well as private individuals and groups for the arrest of perpetrators of the brutal killing of Silawan.
The National Bureau of Investigation, which was tapped by Guevarra to conduct fact-finding probe on the incident, arrested a 17-year-old suspect who was the last companion of the victim before her body was found in a vacant lot in Barangay Bankal last March 11.
The minor was tagged in the crime after closed-circuit television camera footage showed him together with the victim.
Probers also found out that he was communicating with the victim through chat and text messages and said that the killing could be a case of “crime of passion” driven by jealousy.
However, Guevarra said that while a suspect was already nabbed, the case is “not yet closed” as authorities continue to hunt down two other suspects.
With the arrest of the suspect, police investigators have dropped another arrested person – Jonas Bueno – as a suspect in Silawan’s murder.
Bueno was arrested in Davao City last week due to the murder of a farmer in Danao City in January.