President Rodrigo Duterte (davaotoday.com file photo)
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — A former police officer retracted his earlier statement at the Senate and now claimed that the Davao Death Squad exists and that he is part of the vigilante group allegedly paid by former Davao City Mayor and now President Rodrigo Duterte.
“Dito po patutunayan ko na totoo ang sinasabi ni Edgar Matobato (Here I will tell you that what Edgar Matobato say is true),” said SPO3 Arthur Lascanas in a press conference on Monday. In October last year, Lascanas testified in the Senate to debunk Matobato’s allegations and said Matobato’s statement were “all lies.”
Matobato filed a complaint against Pres. Duterte in December last year and 27 others, including Lascanas, over their alleged involvement in the Davao Death Squad.
Lascanas narrated how the DDS started and said that they were paid by the Pres. Duterte from P20,000, P50,000 and P100,000, depending on the “status of the target.”
“Sa lahat po ng ginagawa naming pagpatay sa Davao City, ilibing man o itapon namin sa laot, ito po ay binabayaran kami ni Mayor Rody Duterte (In all the killings that we do in Davao City, either we bury the dead or throw it in the sea, we get paid by Mayor Rody Duterte),” Lascanas said.
He said he received an allowance from the Office of the City Mayor for a long time.
Bombing of mosques
Lascanas said that when the San Pedro Cathedral was bombed in 1993, their group was “personally” ordered by Duterte to bomb mosques in Davao City.
“Nung nangyari po ang pagbomba sa San Pedro Cathedral, kung di ako nagkamali, two days after pumunta si Mayor sa opisina ng anti-crime group at dahil kami po ang core group, kami po ang personal na inutusan niya na gumanti sa pagbomba ng San Pedro cathedral sa pamamagitan ng pagbomba sa Muslim osques na within the (area of responsibility) of Davao City (If I’m not mistaken, two days after the bombing of the San Pedro Cathedral, Mayor went to the office of the anti-crime group and because we were the core group, we were personally ordered to retaliate by bombing Muslim mosques within the area of responsibility of Davao City),” he said.
He added their group was divided into three and he belonged to the group that was led by SPO4 Desiderio Cloribel.
He said they also have members called force multipliers who are rebel returnees from the New People’s Army.
He said they used grenades to bomb the mosques.
Because of the bombings, Lascanas said former Senator Aquilino Pimentel Jr., declared that there was “anarchy” in Davao. He said they were ordered to stop the bombing operation to avoid a senate inquiry.
‘Make it clean’
Lascanas also said they were responsible for the massacre of a family from General Santos City whose head of the family was involved in the abduction of one “Mrs. Abaca.”
He said the kidnapping happened more than 20 years ago in Davao City and their group was instructed by Duterte to conduct an investigation and hot pursuit operation against the suspects.
He said a police official from General Santos gave them an “A1 information” to point to an alleged mastermind whom Lascanas identified as Mr. Patasaha.
Lascanas said they were able to capture Mr. Patasaha by blocking their van. He said the alleged mastermind of the abduction was with his family, including his 7-month pregnant wife, his son whose age is 4 or 5 year old, his more than 70 year old father in law and two helpers.
He said they took the family to “Laud Quarry” in Davao City, where they conducted an investigation.
After their investigation, the group met Duterte “somewhere in Ecoland” in Davao City to relay to him their initial report. Lascanas said Duterte gave the go signal to kill the suspect along with the family.
“Sabi niya ‘sige, limpyo lang,’ ibig sabihin sige malinis lang (He said okay, just make sure it’s clean),” said Lascanas.
He said before the killing happened, he and “SPO3 Jerry Baguhin” protested along with the others.
Lascanas said he told the group: “Isa lang itong target natin, bakit nasama itong buntis, masama itong anak na 4 year old, masama itong matanda, at masama itong dalawang katulong na lalaki at babae? (We only have one target, why will we include the pregnant woman, the 4 year old son, the elderly, and the two helpers?).”
He said he even asked to take the son and bring him to Butuan City and leave the boy in a bus terminal.
He said he got Baguhin’s support, but one of the group’s members argued that when the boy grow up, he will still know how they look like and would retaliate for killing his family.
And so they decided to kill the whole family, using a caliber 22 with a silencer, Lascanas claimed.
After a couple of days, Lascanas said they were allegedly given a reward by Duterte.
‘Jun Pala’s killing costs P3 million’
Lascanas said he was hired by Duterte through SPO4 Sonny Buenaventura, Duterte’s trusted aid and driver for the assassination of a Davao journalist who was an outspoken critic of the former city mayor.
“Isa ako sa nagpatay kay Jun Pala (I was among those who killed Jun Pala),” Lascanas said.
He said Buenaventura hired him for P3 million because Duterte is very mad at Pala.
Lascanas said he agreed to the contract. A P500,000 was also set for the operational expenses.
He said Pala survived the first two ambushes they plotted. After a few months they laid low.
He said he saw Duterte in a mall in Davao City who had no escort at that time. He said Duterte asked him what happened with their ambushes.
Lascanas said he apologized and Duterte told him to “take time.”
After several months, Buenaventura introduced Lascañas to a certain Jerry Trocio, a former rebel returnee who is also an employee at the Davao City Hall. He said Trocio was Pala’s part-time bodyguard who was hired by Buenaventura to conduct surveillance on Pala in exchange for P350,000.
Pala was killed on September 6, 2003.
He said he and Buenaventura shared the P1 million and the remaining P2 million was shared between him and Jim Tan. Lascanas said another 1 million was given as a reward to him by Duterte at the house of Duterte’s girlfriend in Ecoland.
“Tinanggap ko at sabi ko ‘salamat Sir’ (I got it and said thank you Sir),” he said.
Demolition job
The Palace dismissed the allegations of Lascañas calling it a part of the “demolition job” against the President.
Presidential Communications Office Secretary Martin Andanar said the press conference was “part of a protracted political drama aimed to destroy the President and to topple his administration.”
“Our people are aware that this character assassination is nothing but vicious politics orchestrated by sectors affected by the reforms initiated by the Duterte administration,” said Andanar in a statement.(davaotoday.com)
