Beauty Influencer Faces Backlash Over Tribute To Slain Teen Christine Silawan

The whole Philippines is still demanding justice for the brutal murder of Christine Silawan. The 16-year-old’s body was found on a vacant lot in Barangay Bankal, Lapu-Lapu City on Monday, March 11, and people are scarred for life after seeing what the suspects did to her body.

With that said, Christine Silawan’s death is considered to be a very sensitive topic. So when one beauty influencer decided to pay tribute to the young teen by posting an avant-garde makeup look on social media, many netizens criticized him for it, some even felt that he was exploiting the crime for fame.

Drian Bautista (@Drian_Bautista) uploaded a photo of himself on Instagram and Twitter as his tribute to Christine. On the picture, the Filipino beauty influencer painted a half-skull on his face, and captioned it:

“I did this for you RIP. Justice for Christine Lee Pardillo, 16, was raped, murdered, and they even skinned her face until her skull was exposed. It’s sad that there are people who are capable of doing such a thing.”

However, netizens were unimpressed with his tribute.

Some of the comments read:

“If he wanted to express his emotions with this look, he should have appeared grieving and sad, but no, he just looked pretty.”

“It’s an act of ‘lemme show you my skills (I might become famous).’”

Bur Drian defended his post saying, “ I am an artist. This is not Aesthetic! This is an Art. THIS IS MY PROTEST.”

Despite his initial defense, Drian eventually deleted the post and apologized to those who got offended, especially Christine’s family.

Dr. Benjamin Lare, Chief Medico-Legal officer of PNP Crime Lab, said in a statement:

“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.”

Doctors said that there was no sign that the teen was raped. Nonetheless, the removal and skinning of Christine Silawan’s face is a graphic crime that can’t be forgiven.

Christine Silawan’s face skinning and brutal killing has led some people to call for the revival of the death penalty in the country.