Jonas Bueno had communicated with Christine Lee Silawan. Police Regional Office (PRO-ll) Regional Director Brigadier General Marcelo Morales said so in a press conference in Davao City Friday night after Bueno’s arrest by the combined elements of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and Davao’s local police operatives. “He is considered as one of the suspects because base sa initial investigation lumutang yung kanyang nickname na ginamit sa pakikipag conversation niya doon sa victim” Morales told the Davao press. Earlier, an official of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) revealed that Bueno used a facebook account using an alias of Jason Mantil.
Bueno’s full name is Jonas Mantel Bueno, whose known last Cebu whereabout was Barangay Sacsac, Danao City. In an earlier press conference in Cebu City Police Regional Office (PRO 7) Regional Director Debold Sinas hinted that they had something in the cellphone of Silawan which would link to their “person of interest” in the brutal murder of the 16 year-old alms collector from Sitio Soong, Barangay Mactan, Lapu-Lapu City. Connie Nacion, the live-in partner of Bueno quickly defended Jonas however, denying any link to the gruesome murder of Silawan. She said Jonas could not do it as they had been in Davao City for two weeks already.
She also claimed that they had been in Mindanao for quite a time since. “Dugay na mi diri, pero ang tinuod, dugay na mi diri sa Mindanao, ” Nacion told a local Davao tv station. Their landlord who is a relative of Nacion supported the claim as the couple started renting one of his rooms in Purok Santiago, Matina Crossing since February 22. Bueno and Nacion were accompanied by their two young children. Silawan’s corpse was just found dumped in a grassy lot in Barangay Bankal, last Monday, March 4. A photo of Bueno circulated viral online after a Manila based reporter claimed that it was a photo release from the police but Sinas categorically denied doing so.
Lapu-Lapu Chief of Police Col. Limuel Obon even described the photo release as “fake news” because as the leader of the Special Investigation Task Group (SITG) Silawan, he is the only person who is authorized to released a photo of their suspect. Morales however admitted that the photo that went viral online helped in the arrest of Bueno as a resident reported his presence to the authorities after seeing the photo. Bueno was arrested by virtue of a warrant of arrest issued by Danao City Judge Jerry Dicdican for the murder of Trinidad Batucan, 62, a farmer who was also skinned to death like what happened to Silawan.
Because of the arrest of Bueno, Morales said they are trying to establish whether Bueno also killed Silawan. Nacion told probers that they arrived in Davao after taking a boat from Cebu. They briefly stayed in Buenavista, Agusan del Norte before they proceeded to Davao. She said they were looking for jobs. Silawan was naked from the waist when found. Her face was skinned to the bone. She bore 30 stab wounds and some of her body parts were missing. Her tonque was plucked out, her trachea and esophagus ripped off while her right ear was knifed. A bounty of P2 million was raised for the capture of her killers. Members of SITG Silawan from Cebu will proceed to Davao today to pursue their investigation on Bueno.
Bueno allegedly is the leader of the group called “Bueno Brothers” that killed Batucan in January this year. His two other brothers, Junrey and Juvie, who were with him in attacking Batucan were killed in an ensuing shootout with the police
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