(Eagle News) — The 17-year-old suspect in the killing of Christine Silawan is back in Department of Social Welfare and Development custody.
This was after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the boy’s “re-arrest” following his release by a prosecutor who had ruled the police failed to justify a warrantless arrest.
Under the Rules of Court, a warrantless arrest is valid under three circumstances: when, in the presence of the policeman, the person to be arrested has committed, is actually committing, or is attempting to commit an offense or the in flagrante delicto rule; when an offense has just been committed, and the policeman has probable cause to believe, based on personal knowledge of facts or circumstances, that the person to be arrested has committed it, or the hot pursuit rule; and when the person to be arrested is a prisoner who has escaped from a penal establishment.
“Di ako papayag na ganunin mo lang ang tao. Patayin mo ang bata, balatan mo tapos magsibat ka lang, mahuli ka after six days tapos ma-release ka kasi hindi hot pursuit,” Duterte had said.
According to the President, “for as long as there is somebody who conducted the investigation and made a follow up everyday that is still hot pursuit to me.”
“Imposible mo ‘yang sabihin mo na hot pursuit 24 hours lang ngayon,” he added.
Silawan’s body was found in a vacant lot in Lapu-Lapu, Cebu on March 11.
The 16-year-old had been stabbed multiple times, and her face skinned, her skull exposed.
The police said some of her organs were also missing.