CEBU, Philippines — Driven by desire, Renato Payupan Llenes alias “Renren,” 43 years old and a father of five, disguised as a teenage boy and used dummy Facebook accounts under the name “CJ Diaz” to entice the attractive and young Christine Lee Silawan into a romantic relationship with him.
The interaction, a five-month affair that began November, finally led to a meeting one day in March, but that’s when things took a different turn.
Police Director-General Oscar Albayalde presented Llenes before members of the media yesterday, April 11, at the Police Regional Office-7 headquarters in Cebu City, one month after Silawan was found dead on a vacant lot in Barangay Bankal, Lapu-Lapu City with no undergarments and her skin peeled off her face.
Llenes’ presentation to the media came two days after authorities accosted him for possession of an unlicensed .45 caliber pistol Tuesday morning in Barangay Bankal, where he was also listed under the drug watchlist.
How he ‘Killed’ her
Speaking to reporters, Llenes revealed using a barber’s scissors to stab 16-year-old Silawan over 30 times on different parts of her body and to skin off her face. He said he skinned her off in hopes that she would not be identified.
He said he had learned to peel off a person’s face and neck by watching videos on social networking sites such as Facebook and video-streaming website YouTube, including the infamous “Momo Challenge” that lures children into committing several crimes and inflicting self-harm.
“I used a dummy Facebook account to lure her. We chatted frequently until we became a couple on Facebook,” said Llenes in Cebuano.
For the first time, the two agreed to meet each other on March 10, Sunday, at the Sacred Heart Parish in Lapu-Lapu City, where Silawan was working as an altar girl.
But when Silawan learned he was older than what she expected and that he had used a fake name to trick her, a fight ensued.
“He was too old for her so she decided to go home but the suspect insisted on walking her home,” said Albayalde.
As they were walking, Llenes engaged Silawan in a conversation, and in his confession and during the reenactment of the crime last Wednesday, he said that he invited Silawan to have sex with him, but the victim accordingly refused.
Llenes, who admitted using illegal drugs prior to the meeting, got mad after Silawan allegedly said she was no longer a virgin.
Using scissors, he stabbed her multiple times at a dark portion of Sitio Mahayahay, Barangay Bankal, Lapu-Lapu City that night. He then used the scissors to skin off her face in order to delay identification.
He said he then threw away Silawan’s bag after, but did not hull out her internal organs – tongue, esophagus, and trachea – which were already missing when her body was found the following morning.
Llenes also said he did not rape Silawan.
Asked why he decided to own up to the killing, he said he was being haunted by his conscience.
Arrest, then confession
Albayalde said the arrest of Llenes was a product of intelligence.
Llenes, he said, was considered as a person of interest earlier in the investigation, but there was no concrete evidence against him at the time.
It was only after Colonel Limuel Obon, chief of Lapu-Lapu City Police Office, reviewed the full CCTV footage and showed it to members of the Sacred Heart Parish that they were able to determine that Llenes was the one with Silawan.
Albayalde said that Llenes’ figure and clothes matched with those captured by the CCTV.
When police invited him for questioning Tuesday, they instead found him to be in possession of .45 caliber pistol loaded with ammunition. Thus, he was arrested for possession of unlicensed firearm and a violation of the election gun ban.
Based on the investigation led by Special Investigation Task Group Silawan, Llenes used three dummy accounts to lure Silawan into a relationship starting in November last year.
On Facebook, the accounts under the name of “CJ Diaz” feature the face of a teenage boy. A check into the exchange of messages between Silawan and Llenes under the dummy accounts showed they were in a relationship.
Llenes also “confirmed” Silawan as her girlfriend on Facebook.
The November-to-March love affair was explicit in their chats, according to PRO-7 chief Police Brigadier General Debold Sinas.
Sought for comment, NBI-7 assistant regional director Dominador Cimafranca admitted that the confession of Llenes will have an effect to the case the bureau has filed against the boy, but he stood pat on their own findings.
NBI-7 Director Tomas Enrile, in a separate text message, also said the NBI will stick to its findings.
Regrets
Yesterday, Llenes’ lawyer, Manuel Degollacion Jr., and another one from the Public Attorney's Office were present when he executed an extrajudicial confession which was also recorded on video.
Degollacion said the “bulky” confession will be attached as evidence, adding that Llenes was not forced nor tortured to give the statement.
Llenes said he regrets what he has done and asked forgiveness from the family. — with Mylen P. Manto JMD (FREEMAN)