LAPU-LAPU CITY – Christine Lee Silawan would have turned 17 this March 26. She would have wanted “lechon manok (roasted chicken)” and some ice cream on that day.
Her mother Lourdes will turn 48 on March 23, while her youngest sibling celebrated her 13th birthday last Tuesday.
But instead of a series of celebrations, the family is grieving after Christine was brutally killed by still-unidentified perpetrators.
Christine was found dead in a vacant lot in Barangay Bankal, Lapu-Lapu last Monday. She had at least 20 stab wounds in different parts of the body and her face was skinned to the bones. Some internal organs were also missing.
“Other than her face was skinned, we noted in our examination that her trachea and the esophagus were missing. The musculature at the right side of the neck was also ripped off so the cervical vertebrae can already be seen. Aside from that, her tongue is also gone,” said Dr. Benjamin Lara, chief medico-legal officer of the PNP Crime Lab-Central Visayas.
Lara, however, said it is not certain if the missing organs were plucked out by the perpetrators.
“We have to remember that she was dumped in an open area. There were animals there and there is possibility
that the missing organs may have been eaten by the animals,” said Lara.
Autopsy showed that there were no signs that the victim was raped.
Lourdes is still struggling to accept the fate that her daughter suffered. “I have no more tears left to cry. I feel so weak already. I don’t know if I can recover from this,” Lourdes said in Cebuano.
Lourdes said she had always made it a point to have lechon manok and ice cream during her birthdays. “That’s her usual request to celebrate her birthday,” Lourdes said.
The family lives in a bungalow house made of light materials, a few meters from the house of Christine’s grandparents where Christine’s wake is being held.
The second in a brood of four, Christine had big dreams, according to her mother. She wanted to become a teacher or a flight attendant.
“She was a very good daughter. I couldn’t understand why someone had to do something barbaric to her. She was very kind, a silent type. She was my buddy, she was very obedient. She would do everything I tell her to do without complaining,” said Lourdes.
Lourdes said Christine was very close to her. The girl carried her mother’s family name since her parents have yet to wed when she was born.
Christine’s father Mario Pardillo rushed home from Bohol after learning her daughter’s tragic death. Lourdes and Mario separated 13 years ago. (Calvin Cordova)
