Davao City Police Office chief Senior Superintendent Michael John Dubria has belied the testimony of a witness who introduced himself as a former hitman of the alleged Davao Death Squad (DDS) linking President Rodrigo Duterte and several police officials to extrajudicial killings.
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Speaking during a senate hearing investigating the president’s anti-crime crackdown, Edgar Matobato said he heard Duterte, as mayor of Davao city in the early 1990s, give instructions to carry out extrajudicial killings.
De Lima has emerged as one of Duterte’s most-targeted politicians, and has herself worked to oppose Duterte’s war on drugs by highlighting his police tactics as mayor of southern Davao City before being elected president.
He had said he was a member of a “Davao death squad” that had killed hundreds of suspected criminals “like chickens”, chopped up their bodies, and even fed one man to a crocodile.
Paolo Duterte responded in a statement, saying “What de Lima and this certain Matobato say in public are bare allegations in the absence of proof”. “It’s good that you left”.
She said based on the data presented by Philippine National Police Director General Ronald dela Rosa during the first Senate inquiry on August 22 there were 712 suspected drug-related individuals killed during police operations since July 1.
His allegations were labelled “lies and fabrications” at the hearing while presidential spokesman Martin Andanar said investigations into the president’s time as mayor had gone nowhere.
“Reyes said she didn’t vote for Duterte in the May election, but said she’s become a supporter since then”.
Duterte, whose tough stance on crime enabled him to win by a landslide with 16.6 million votes, said his administration is trying its best to address kidnapping, terrorism, drugs and other security concerns.
Asked about the victims, the 57-year-old former assassin said it ranged from petty criminals and opponents Duterte’s family to political rivals.
“The detailed testimony from a “death squad” member that then-Mayor Duterte was personally involved in killings and ordered others are very serious allegations that require an independent investigation”, Adams added. Another was a radio commentator, Jun Pala, who was critical of Mr Duterte and was killed by gunmen on motorcycles while walking home in 2003.
The recent killings of suspected drug dealers have sparked concerns in the Philippines and among United Nations and USA officials, including President Barack Obama, who have urged Duterte’s government to take steps to rapidly stop the killings and ensure his anti-drug war complies with human rights laws and the rule of law.
Mr Matobato also alleged Mr Duterte ordered the bombing of a mosque in retaliation for an attack Davao Cathedral in 1993.
Some of the bodies were dumped on Davao streets or buried in unmarked graves, Mr Matobato claimed, adding some were thrown into the sea with their stomachs cut open and their bodies tied to concrete blocks so they would not float.
The fiery leader, who has threatened to eat the militants alive in a bloodthirsty vow of revenge for the attack in Davao that killed 15 people, said the group was no longer just after money from criminal activities.
Meanwhile, Matobato’s fate in the Philippines remains unknown after Senate President Aquilino Pimentel, a man described as a Duterte ally, refused to take him into protective custody.
Senator Ping Lacson, however, doubted some of Matobato’s testimonies, warning him that he could face charges for perjury. But Duterte enjoys diverse and wide support, like from the current vice president, a social activist from the country’s liberal party-the party Duterte accuses of trying to unseat him.
“I don’t know what this guy is talking about”, he wrote on Facebook.
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Leila de Lima, a fierce critic of Duterte.
