Senatorial candidate Bong Go said he supports the call for the reimposition of the death penalty for heinous crimes in the wake of the brutal mutilation and murder of Grade 9 student Christine Lee Silawan in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu.
Go condemned the killing of Silawan, a resident of Barangay Mactan in the city.
Silawan was found dead on a vacant lot in Sitio Mahayahay, Barangay Bankal on Monday, naked from the waist down, with the skin on half of her face removed and her neck badly damaged.
“Naniniwala akong epektibong deterrent ang death penalty laban sa mga karumaldumal na krimen, katulad ng walang awa at mala-demonyong pagpatay at pagbalat pa sa mukha ni Christine Lee Silawan ng Cebu (I believe that the death penalty is an effective deterrent against heinous crimes, like the merciless and demonic-like killing and skinning of the face of Christine Lee Silawan of Cebu),” the former Special Assistant to the President (SAP) said.
Go called on authorities “to do everything in their power to bring the perpetrators swiftly to the bar of justice.”
“Authorities should do everything in their power to bring the perpetrators swiftly to the bar of justice.”
The cruelty the perpetrators did on Christine, which is inhuman, “is a stark reminder of the necessity for the revival of capital punishment for heinous crimes,” Go said.
“One hundred percent na pabor akong patawan ng parusang kamatayan ang mga kriminal na mapatunayang gumawa ng mga heinous crimes, lalo na kung involving illegal drugs (I am 100 percent in favor of imposing the death penalty on criminals proven to have committed heinous crimes, especially those involving illegal drugs),” he said, stressing that the same penalty should be meted out to criminals who have committed rape and murder while under the influence of drugs.
A student of the Maribago High School, Christine was reported missing by her mother when she failed to return home after serving as church collector at the Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Barangay Pajac.
Police probers said based on their initial findings, Christine sustained a total of 20 stab wounds and nine more believed to be defense wounds.
It can be recalled that the return of the death penalty was among the campaign promises of President Rodrigo Duterte in the 2016 elections.
“Pres. Duterte is monitoring every development in the case.”
In gunning for a Senate seat, Go has vowed to support the President’s programs and policies, including the campaign against illegal drugs and criminality.
He assured that the President is monitoring any development in the case involving the Cebu teenager’s gruesome death.
The death penalty was reinstated in the country in 1993 through Republic Act 7659. But was abolished by Republic Act 9346 in 2006.
In March 2017, the House of Representatives approved its version of the death penalty bill, but the counterpart measure remains pending at the Senate.
