Matobato provided explicit details of alleged killings, including one in which a victim was fed to a crocodile. Others were dumped at sea to be eaten by fish. Leila de Lima, a staunch critic of Duterte’s anti-drug campaign that has left more than 3,000 suspected drug users and dealers dead since he assumed the presidency in June.
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A confrontation degenerated into a shootout. De Lima called to testify before Congress this week a man claiming to have worked as a hitman in one of Duterte’s Davao “death squads”. “He emptied two Uzi magazines on him”. That’s what we did. Duterte is offering addicts the opportunity to be interned in a rehabilitation facility if they play no role in trafficking drugs, but has promised to “kill” anyone who does not surrender to police, trafficker or addict. “They are sadists”, he said, describing how the victims were strangled. In 2003, they gunned down Mr Jun Pala, a radio commentator critical of Mr Duterte’s alleged communist ties. “I can only suspect that this guy is being manipulated by some people to serve their own interests”, the Davao congressman said in a statement.
He said he left the group and entered the witness protection program (WPP) later when his conscience started bothering him, as even innocent civilians were being targeted. Matobato, a former Filipino militiaman, revealed that Duterte ordered militiamen to kill 1,000 people during his time as city mayor.
Rodrigo Duterte has also been accused of ordering death squads to murder criminals, Muslims and political opponents. More than 1,000 were killed in Davao City alone, he claimed.
The Davao Death Squad was first identified by Human Rights Watch in 2009.
“What [Senator Leila] de Lima and this certain Matobato say in public are bare allegations and mere hearsay”.
He added: “I will not dignify the accusations of a madman”.
The Davao City Police Office (DCPO), meanwhile, denied knowing Matobato and the existence of a death squad in the city.
While Duterte has said he’ll respect the ruling, he’s signaled he’s open to talks with China, the country’s biggest trading partner, and he did not push for the ruling to be mentioned in the communique last week from a summit of Southeast Asian leaders in Laos. “The grant of protective custody to witnesses may not be in the Rules, but this is a long-standing practice, probably in any legislative body in the world, because it is an ancillary and inherent power of the legislature to support its mandate of conducting inquiries in aid of legislation”, De Lima said in a statement. “But he did not!”
“I don’t think he’s capable of giving a directive like that”.
Government officials have forcefully rejected the allegations, with Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre calling the man’s testimony “lies, fabrications and a product of a fertile and a coached imagination”, Reuters reports.
Matobato said he went into hiding when Duterte became president because he feared for his life.
The killings of the suspected drug dealers have sparked concern in the Philippines and among United Nations and USA officials, including President Barack Obama, who have urged Mr Duterte’s government to stop the killings and ensure his anti-drug war complies with human rights laws and the law.
Matobato was apparently referring to Helen Sy Chua, a business partner of King, who was earlier called for questioning involving the murder of the businessman, along with her son Wilbert Chua.
Matobato said he worked as a “ghost employee” at the city government for 24 years as part of the Civil Security Unit.
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Extrajudicial killings are a serious matter.If these accusations are legitimate, Duterte must assume responsibility for his actions. “Mayor Duterte was the one who finished him off….”
